NYT: Health Savings Accounts Attract Wall St. (centerpiece of health plan)

[DeepModem Mom]

Health Savings Accounts Attract Wall St.
By ERIC DASH
Published: January 27, 2006


When it comes to medical benefits, millions of Americans already have a health insurer. Soon, many will also have a debit card and a bank tied to their medical plan.

Banks, credit unions and money management firms are now quietly positioning themselves to become central players in the business of health care, offering 401(k)-type accounts to cover future medical expenses.

Bank of America, J. P. Morgan Chase, Fidelity Investments and hundreds of others are hoping to capitalize on the latest wrinkle in medical care paid by consumers: health savings accounts, which have been around since 2003 but are moving to the fore of the national agenda in anticipation of the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

These supercharged checking accounts, which must be linked to a high-deductible health insurance plan, allow consumers to invest their own money for current and future medical expenses and have it grow tax-free.

They are the centerpiece of President Bush's plans on health care, just as private accounts were offered as a Social Security fix....


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/business/27health.html?incamp=article_popular_2&pagewanted=print

[Telly Savalas]

1. Clever idea.

By trumpeting a policy as mind-blowingly idiotic as Health Care Savings accounts, Bush makes his invasion of Iraq and tax cuts for the rich look smart in comparison.

Bravo, Dubya! :applause:

[Kansas Wyatt]

2. Americans, welcome to the Corporate Government Company Store

Upon your willful acceptance of our contract, you do not have to option to cancel the contract.
We own your asses, because you owe us your existence. We decide what you can have, and when you can have it. You will never work off your debt, and you can never work your way out of our contract. You will die an indentured servant to us, and your estate will go to pay off your bill to us.

We are the Corporate Government Company Store. You came in and indebted yourself to us, and we demand that you pay for the services and goods we rendered to you, deadbeat. Don't like it? Too bad, we never forced you to be born or do business with us, so use your anger to make you work harder to clear your name, you're going to be here awhile.

[Cleita]

3. Oh, sure another candy store for business at the

expense of the patients and the health care providers.

[pitohui]

4. it doesn't make sense

in 5 years your plan might grow to wow $3,200 ?

what good is that?

health care costs for serious illness or injury are hundreds of thousands of dollars now

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Yep. nt

[salin]

6. add to that the tax "reform" plans cooked up by Bushco - to be rolled out

this year - that reportedly contain incentives for companies to *stop* providing health insurance.

So as bush will yammer on, in true Orwellian fashion, about the need to increase health ins coverage for Americans in his SOTU speech - the reality is they are gearing up to try from two ends (increase "amount of health savings accounts" on one end, and use tax policy to decrease the amount of employer paid health benefits on the other end) to push most americans who still have health insurance through their work, to stop having health care through their work.

However in the push to get ins. costs off of employers they are not proposing any policies that really make it likely that more people will get good coverage - (they advocate dropping comprehensive coverage and in its place pushing catastrophic coverage with lower monthly premiums and MUCH higher deductables); indeed because the move off of employer ins will not likely result in higher pay for employees (to cover the increased $$ needed for the savings accounts, the deductables, nor even the ins premiums), more folks will be moved off coverage and not get any new coverage.

Moving healthcare costs off of employers in and of itself is not a bad thing - but moving to where there is likely less coverage all across the board - will be disasterous.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. A good summation, salin. Scary stuff. nt