Health Savings Accounts Hurt Poor

[papau]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7457700&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

Health Savings Accounts Hurt Poor, Care - Report


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Health plans with high patient-paid deductibles, embraced by many Republicans as a market-based solution to quell soaring medical-care costs, lead to poorer quality care and increasing patient debt, a study released on Thursday said.

With the new plans, individuals typically pay the first $1000, or $2000 for families, spent on medical care each year. The plans are coupled with so-called health savings accounts, or HSAs, which allow patients to set aside tax-free funds to defray health expenses.

But a survey of data from 4,000 adults with health insurance found that about half of patients with a high-deductible plan racked up medical debt and were faced with other billing woes, compared with 31 percent of those with more traditional health plans, according to the research group Commonwealth Fund, which studies health policy issues.

"Health savings accounts coupled with high-deductible health plans have potential pitfalls, especially for families with low incomes or individuals with chronic disease," said Karen Davis, president of the foundation, which studies health policy. "The evidence is that increased patient cost-sharing leads to underuse of appropriate care."<snip>

[pinto]

1. I have a friend with insurance and a high deductible, she basically pays

out-of-pocket (unless she's hospitalized, when, admittedly it's been a great resource, she has AIDS). But, monthly, she never meets the deductible and pays cash for her MD, labs, etc. or....puts those things off. And ends up hospitalized. Agggghh!

(She does get her meds covered via MediCal but things change with AIDS and other chronic diseases, even on medication..)

[DrGonzoLives]

2. They're good and bad

Leaving out the debate about whether or not they hurt those in poverty (and they probably do), they can be good if you actually would spend less on medical costs than on insurance, deductibles and co-pays. On the other hand, many HSA's stipulate that you have to use what you pay in, or you lose it, which is just bullshit, in my opinion.

[papau]

3. There will be a carryforward option passed in this Congress.

Use it or lose it is indeed bull.

[eridani]

6. Of course they're good if you don't get sick, dammit!

It would be good if you got a property tax refund because your house didn't catch fire, too. The result of that would be that only those people with fires pay to support the fire department, which is every bit as amoral and psychopathic as putting the entire cost of care precisely on those who are sickest.

[EVDebs]

4. Single-payer is the only way to keep costs down. Even Cuba

not to mention Canada et al put our system to shame when it comes to what we pay for and what we get in return.

[papau]

5. I agree :-)

:-)