PRI health care experts available to discuss Health Savings Accounts
Press Release
2.1.2006
For Immediate Release:
February 1, 2006 Contact: Susan Martin
Marketing Manager
Tel: 415/955-6123 SAN FRANCISCO – PRI applauds the President’s proposal to improve Americans’ health care by getting money out of the hands of the government and into the hands of the patients who need it. The President’s primary tool for achieving this is the Health Savings Account (HSA). Introduced in January 2004, HSAs are tax-advantaged accounts, coupled with high-deductible health insurance plans, which give individuals control of how their health dollars are spent. As long as HSA money is spent on health goods and services, it is never subject to income tax. Although only two years old, HSAs and high-deductible health insurance plans are already helping 3 million Americans manage their health spending: 40 percent of HSA purchasers earn less than $50,000 annually. About half are over 40 years old. Premiums for HSA-eligible insurance dropped 15 percent between 2004 and the first half of 2005. 40 percent of HSA owners did not have health insurance previously. HSA customers are significantly more likely to engage in healthy behaviors and have annual check ups. HSA customers are more likely to ask about costs and choose less expensive treatment. Currently, many Americans are effectively barred from using this tremendous tool to manage their health care. Every single one of the President’s initiatives on HSAs will create more opportunities for Americans who will benefit most from HSAs to invest in them. The President’s proposals will ensure that: An American’s health insurance belongs to him, not his employer. Low-income Americans will be more able to buy health insurance. Chronically ill Americans will have the resources to take control of their conditions. Americans employed in small businesses, or self-employed, will have the same opportunity to invest in health insurance as those in big businesses or government. The Pacific Research Institute has long advocated HSAs as a vital component of good health policy, and looks forward to proposing further reforms that give Americans control of their health care. We congratulate the President on his steps in this direction. ### | Contact: | To arrange an interview with PRI’s health care policy experts, please contact PRI’s Press Office at 415/955-6120 or email smartin@pacificresearch.org. |
About PRI
For 27 years, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has championed freedom, opportunity, and individual responsibility through free-market policy solutions. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. For more information please visit our web site at http://www.pacificresearch.org//
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