Monday, April 12, 2010

Armstrong: Keep Pushing for HSAs

Ari Armstrong explains why Americans who value quality medical care should, "Keep Pushing For Health Savings Accounts".

Here is the opening:
Despite enactment of the Democratic health law, one reform Republicans and market advocates should fight to keep alive is the Health Savings Account (HSA), which allows people to put pre-tax money into an account dedicated to health-related expenses.

Experiences my wife and I have had this week illustrate the power of paying for one's own health care, which an HSA encourages. Rather than pay a hundred plus dollars each to a doctor and an out-of-state testing facility, we each paid King Soopers $20 to test our blood cholesterol. I'm not saying this is a good substitute for seeing a doctor, but we wanted to get a test between regular doctor visits. Our actions illustrate the fallacy of claims that self-payers don't get preventive treatment. We are highly committed to doing what we can to prevent long-term health problems by taking care of ourselves and paying for preventive care.
(Read the rest of "Keep Pushing For Health Savings Accounts".)