Don't get me wrong, I think HSAs are the best thing going right now. But they are not a solution to this country's healthcare problem like this administration claims they are. HSAs are a great alternative to traditional healthcare if you have the money to pay the premium and still have extra money to invest. If this works for you, great!
But if so, you are not the type of people that are part of the growing healthcare crisis. There are nearly 45 million Americans that are uninsured. I agree that some of those uninsured just have their priorities mixed up and may have plasma TV's and iPod's at the same time they "can't afford" health insurance. But most of those 45 million really can't even afford the premium for an HSA qualified high deductible health plan, let alone the extra money to invest in the health savings account.
Our government needs to think of a real solution to this healthcare crisis soon (other than slashing Medicare). But as soon as any other ideas are mentioned, critics start screaming "national healthcare". They claim that any type of national healthcare program would increase the already inflated tax burden on families and businesses. This message is so loud because the insurance industry is providing the megaphone.
I'm the only health insurance broker I've seen that isn't screaming about how HSAs are the magic bullet for everybody's needs. For our clients in upper income tax brackets, I am saying that. But health insurance companies and brokers are acting like the healthcare crisis in this country is now fixed because of HSAs. Mainly because they fear that helping the uninsured with anything that smells like national healthcare would put them out of the job.
Actually, it's their idea to look the other way that's going to put them out of the job. As more and more people can't afford health insurance and aren't paying premiums, they're still getting necessary medical services and eventually aren't able to pay the doctor or hospital. The doctors and hospitals need to shift those costs and charge more to paying clients, or the insurance companies. This, in turn, increases the premiums for everybody with health insurance and will cause a few thousand more to be unable to afford their health insurance anymore. And that cycle will continue to accelerate and is just about to explode in our faces.
2 comments:
I agree. How can someone making $7.50 an hour (like a lot of people in rural areas) save for retirement and HSA? They're only making $15,600 and we expect them to sock away over half. That's not going to happen unless the wages in this country significantly increase, which will cause inflation, which will cause health care costs to increase.
These are only good for the upper income bracket, not the bulk of the country.
True. There are a lot of HSA evangelists out there, and either they are only concerned about the wealthy, themselves, or they just aren't thinking about it.
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