Bush Administration fires back at Washington Post's Sebastian Mallaby on Health Savings Accounts

It seems near impossible to see behind the thick political veil when it comes to healthcare issues in America. The political tussling, spinning and positioning nearly always dooms any attempt at approaching an issue squarely. While career politicians and media elite are busy coveting strategic political gain, the American healthcare ship is sinking. Too bad. It almost makes callous indifference an admirable character trait by comparison.

According to a recently released Commonwealth Fund report, the percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage. According to the report, National health care spending is climbing by more than 7 percent per year, outpacing economic growth by a substantial margin and that 'Gaps in health insurance coverage—a problem that has long afflicted lower-income U.S. families—is increasingly becoming an all-American problem.' Key findings (multimedia presentation available) of the survey point out that more than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had incurred debt to cover their expenses. According to lead author Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., senior program officer and director of the Fund's Program on the Future of Health Insurance, the represent 'an eXplosion of the insurance crisis into those with moderate incomes'.

Somebody, please, step up to the podium and clear the cigar smoke. The bottom line is, network-wide healthcare cost in America is out of control beyond containment. If you or a loved one has ever had an extended hospital stay, you could lament the truth. Marketing, research, technology, IT..... somebody's been draining the American healthcare consumer's lifeblood for too long and been calling it health insurance. It's all about the disposable American dollar and whose got the stealth to pry it loose and leverage it into a foolproof consumer niche pool. Universal, consumer-driven, mandatory.....what's in a name when it all smells the same? Crisis? Avarice-driven, spiralling, network-wide, price-gouged inflationary costs have bankrupted all and the lowly American healthcare consumer is stuck with the tab for the shortfall. Stuck, as always. Only, now, he(she) can't pay or won't; not from those empty pockets. Check the ranks of the uninsured. What's the fix? Network pricing structure? New pockets to pick? The Federali? Hmm. A little more wood for the fire, below.
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For Immediate Release February 13, 2006
Whitehouse: News and Policices

Setting the Record Straight: The Washington Post's Sebastian Mallaby on Health Savings Accounts

Setting the Record Straight



Setting The Record Straight On The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

Mallaby Claims That HSAs Are For "Rich People" And "Healthy People".
"The administration is proposing a new kind of 401(k), and using it as an inducement to quit low-deductible insurance. Rich people, who gain most from the tax breaks on saving, will be first to sign on; healthy people, who subsidize sicker people in company health plans, will be right behind them." (Sebastian Mallaby, Op-Ed, "Ownership Society Redux," The Washington Post, 2/13/06)

But Studies Have Shown That HSAs Have Broad Appeal.Enrollment In HSAs Has Tripled Since March 2005.
" At least three million consumers currently receive health coverage through high-deductible health insurance plans offered in conjunction with health saving accounts (HSAs), according to preliminary results of a new study by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). According to the study, enrollment in the new insurance policies eligible for HSAs has roughly tripled since last March when a similar AHIP survey found that 1,031,000 people were covered by HSA-compatible insurance policies." (America's Health Insurance Plans, "HSAs Triple in 10 Months," Press Release, 1/26/06)

Studies Show That Low-Income And Previously Uninsured Americans Are Signing Up For HSAs.
" These lower-premium plans are an important option, especially for those who might not otherwise be able to afford coverage, Ignagni said, noting that among the companies tracking the information, previously uninsured people purchased 37% of the individual policies. Twenty-seven percent of the policies in the small group market have been sold to employers who did not previously offer coverage to their employees. Shattering the myth that these new products only attract young and healthy individuals, the census indicates that nearly half of people covered by HSA-eligible insurance are over the age of 40." (America's Health Insurance Plans, "HSAs More Than Double In Six Months, New AHIP Study Shows," Press Release, 5/4/05)

Survey Finds More Previously Uninsured Americans Enrolled In HSA Programs Than Traditional Health Plans.
"The survey found that HSA-eligible enrollees are of all ages and of no different health status than people enrolled in traditional coverage. 'This survey finding dispels the myth that HSAs are only for the young and healthy,' said Sullivan. 'In addition, we are also bolstered by the finding that the number of previously uninsured currently enrolled in a HSA-eligible product is double that of enrollees in traditional........More

Bush,Economy,The 90 Foot Rule,Toothless Reform,Cash Cow Expires

Massachusetts Health Insurance Reform......' a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform(AFL-CIO) ' or the Wile E. Coyote ' Acme Rocket ' plan or just ' Toothless Reform ' ?


[It's all so hard to figure, isn't it? According to an official statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney (below) regarding recent Massachusetts healthcare reform legistlation, the " legislation leaves middle-income families dangling without a safety net, jeopardizes families who currently have employer-sponsored health care, and gives employers a free ride ........a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform ". We just wonder exactly what is contained in the final signed version. While everyone pontificates over the broader ideological strokes, it's usually the fine print that kills the cat. The final veto version denies dental coverage ($75M) to adult Medicaid recipients because, 'it provides a service not offered by most Massachusetts employers', Governor Romney aptly (HUH?) noted. That gets right to the vanilla core of real healthcare reform issues. Call it 'Toothless Reform' , if you will. Newt, you're off the hook, 'cause maybe, this is a page out of the Wile E. Coyote 'Acme Rocket' playbook for healthcare reform? One thing for sure, if you want real reform, follow the money trail. Where it leads is where the real balance of power and core reform issues reside.]
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AFL-CIO: Press Releases, Speeches and Testimony

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Massachusetts Health Care Reform
April 05, 2006

Who would have thought that Massachusetts – long considered a bastion of progressive thinking – would take a page out of the Newt Gingrich playbook for health care reform? Forcing uninsured workers to purchase health care coverage or face higher taxes and fines is the cornerstone of Mr. Gingrich’s health care reform proposals. And it is unconscionable that Massachusetts has adopted this misguided individual mandate.

This legislation leaves middle-income families dangling without a safety net, jeopardizes families who currently have employer-sponsored health care, and gives employers a free ride.

The bill protects workers with the lowest incomes, but punishes middle-income families. A typical family in which the husband and wife each earn a little more than $30,000 and who have two children would be forced to purchase health care, but would not be qualified for any help even if their employer does not offer any coverage or they can't afford their share of the premium. With the average employer-sponsored insurance premium costing more than $4,000 a year for single workers and close to $11,000 a year for working families, Massachusetts' new requirement will bankrupt many middle-class families.

The state has promised to come up with an affordable health care plan but has been woefully short on details. While the state's promotional materials say, “everyone who can afford health insurance should be required to obtain it",it does not define affordable or provide any guarantees. Is it affordable for a single person making $30,000 a year to spend $3,000 (the amount currently being floated) on a stripped-down health care plan?

We believe that workers have to participate in the solution to the problem, but this plan puts the entire burden on workers while letting employers off the hook. Businesses that do not offer insurance will be assessed a paltry $295 per worker per year, an amount so meager that it actually creates an economic incentive for many businesses to pay the assessment rather than provide....More

The ' 90 foot Rule', Mass Delusion and Abolishing the Laws of Arithmetic

[ ' The elected leaders of Massachusetts have come up with a novel solution for the vexing problem of paying for health care: abolish the laws of arithmetic...' Alot can be made of ideology, universal health insurance coverage, common sense and political grandstanding. Notwithstanding, perhaps, heading up the list of common sense and the immutable laws of the universe is the absolute perfection baseball's 90 feet. Athough the origins of baseball have been steeped in controversy for over 100 years, one thing remains perfectly clear > baseball's flawless application of the laws of arithmetic has been the linchpin of the great American way of life throughout. Whoever it was that magically derived baseball's 90 foot basepath rule can be considered genius and should be. Considering the constant haps of razor close plays at first base throughout the course of a game, it would seem that even the slightest deviation from the magical distance, less or more, would have rendered the game impotent and historically irrelevant, as with most legistlation that has managed to pass through federal and state houses over this same period. Our suggestion, require the '90 foot rule', by law, to be adhered to in the political arena, with capitol offense fervor, when any attempt is made to address an issue concerning the well-being of the American way of life.]
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EconLog: Issues and insights in economics

Mass Delusion on Health Care
Arnold Kling(April 7, 2006)



In today's Wall Street Journal, the author of a new book on health care policy writes (subscription required--free version here):

The elected leaders of Massachusetts have come up with a novel solution for the vexing problem of paying for health care: abolish the laws of arithmetic...

The Massachusetts health plan promises to provide health-insurance companies with subsidies in order to induce them to offer these low-deductible insurance plans. The arithmetic suggests that these subsidies will have to be large -- thousands of dollars larger than the $295 per worker that the state plans to collect from employers that do not provide health insurance.

The problem of paying for health-care coverage, which politicians are declaring they have "solved," is really just beginning. The only way to make zero-deductible health insurance available at low cost is with a large subsidy; how much will depend on negotiations with insurance companies.

The Massachusetts plan makes a large, open-ended spending commitment, while raising no new taxes, apart from a tiny $295 annual fee to be charged businesses for ......More


The+90+Foot+Rule