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Health Savings Accounts For Health Care

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Health Savings Accounts For Health Care

For more information about health and fitness, body fitness guide, health tips, baby care tips, parenting tips, health exercises, workouts, men’s health, women’s health and teen health, please visit www.pkdoctor.co

health Care Debate Has Been Distorted by Focusing on the Minority of Patients with Very High Costs

Proponents of government managed universal health care and their allies in the mainstream media, have made a big deal of the fact that many people lack health insurance and that some people have been forced into bankruptcy as a result of a major illness or accident.

In the current debate over the President’s government run universal health care plan it has been pointed out that many of the uninsured are uninsured by choice and not by circumstance.

Supporters of the President’s plan acknowledge this fact as they have included in the various bills being discussed, fines for people who choose not to buy the promised low cost health insurance – failure to pay these fines, like refusal to pay any fines, will result in such people facing arrest by officers fully prepared to legally use deadly force to execute the arrest warrant. If you have to use the force of government to get people to buy a product it is a good indication that the people in question don’t want the product.

The second fact to come out of the current debate is that only a small percentage of the population ever get hit with having to pay for extremely high cost treatment for catastrophic illness or injury.
Bureaucratic Needs of Medicare and Insurance Companies are a Big Factor in Rishing Health Care Costs

What has happened here is that by constantly repeating stories about the small percentage of people who are devastated financially by an illness or accident that leave them bankrupt, politicians and the media have instilled a fear of medical bills.

Compounding the problem is the fact that most people don’t know the true cost of medical care since most not only have no need to use medical services regularly and, when they do, their insurance pays for all or most of it leaving them in the dark as to the real cost of such care.
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Unlike the various Obamacare plans currently before Congress and which will end up costing taxpayers millions or even billions in new government spending, Health Savings Accounts will reduce the cost of health care simply by simplifying the payment process.

With Health Savings Accounts routine medical costs are paid at the time of service, either with a check or debit card directly from the Health Savings Account, or by cash, check or credit card if the patient decides to leave the funds in the Health Savings Account for future bills. This reduces the need for the medical facility to employ a highly paid medical coder to prepare the billing for Medicare or the insurance company as well as reducing the need for systems, employees and space needed to maintain records for Medicare and the insurance companies.

An additional benefit would be that the medical facility receives payment immediately rather than waiting, sometimes for months, for a billing to make its way through the complex billing and payment process, thereby reducing the need to borrow operating funds and having to pay the associated interest costs.

While the current complex system is needed in order to reduce fraud on the part of the medical facility and/or the patient as well as tracking and managing costs incurred by the insured, direct payment by the patient eliminates the need for such systems.
When Spending their Own Money People Will Shop for Better Health Care Deals

Encouraging patients to manage their own routine health care expenses can lead to additional reductions in costs for all in other ways as well.

Since they are spending their own money, patients will be more willing to shop for better deals in health care. Also, if the patient, rather than Medicare or an insurance company is paying, there is no need to limit themselves to doctors approved by the third party payer or a requirement to visit a primary physician first in order to get a referral to a specialist.

These things will make the market more competitive and pressure medical providers to become more efficient in order to lower costs and be able to attract more patients by passing these cost savings on in the form or lower fees.
Consumer Choice Can Reduce Health Care Costs in Other Ways As Well

In addition to shopping for lower prices, there are other ways consumer choice in medical care can help drive health care costs down. People can exercise a certain amount of control over their need or use of medical care. Very few patients visit medical providers with life threatening emergencies. There are also relatively few visits that are non-life threatening but require immediate attention to prevent long term complications.

Instead, most people use the medical system for routine medical conditions that can usually be deferred, postponed indefinitely or skipped entirely without any serious effect on their health. Such visits are want driven rather than need driven and consumers choose whether or not to satisfy individual wants.

For example, a person needs food to live but chooses whether or not to spend money on more expensive gourmet food the eating of which is a want and not a need. Of course, if the government or insurance company will be paying for the food the choice is simple – live on gourmet food.

Routine check-ups can usually be postponed a month or two or more without serious problems, thereby giving the patient time to either shop for a different provider or time to get the money together to pay for the exam.
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Paying Own Health Care Expenses is an Incentive to Take Better Care of One’s Health

Many visits are for routine, minor things like updating an immunization, confirming that what ails one is a minor illness and not something more serious, or have a health care professional check an ailment and write a prescription for it, etc.

Services like this, which are what most visits to physicians involve, can be handled by a physician aided by one or more non-physician assistants with minimal equipment and overhead. In states where this type service is allowed we are finding such mini-clinics already beginning to pop up in places like Wal-Mart, Walgreens and other retail outlets.

Having people make their own health care choices and pay themselves will provide an additional incentive to pay more attention to their health and safety. Normal people (which is most people) don’t deliberately seek to harm their health or injure themselves.

Most people assume that they will be the one that the disease won’t strike (as is the case with some friends who are smokers and express hope that they will be among those who don’t get cancer or heart disease from smoking) or that the accident won’t happen to them. And the backup plan for this type of thinking is that even if the worst happens care will be available and a cure possible.

With a third party – the government or employer paid insurance – paying the bill for the disease or accident, the only thing people have to worry about is whether they will be among the few unfortunates who are the victims but won’t have to worry about having to pay if it happens to them. The possibility of having to pay for all or part of the treatment as well as suffering the disease or accident is one more addition to the caution side of the scale in making such decisions.

For more information about health and fitness, body fitness guide, health tips, baby care tips, parenting tips, health exercises, workouts, men’s health, women’s health and teen health, please visit www.pkdoctor.com


Article from articlesbase.com

Senate Democrats on Wednesday took the first major step toward a sweeping overhaul of the health care system in over a decade, pushing legislation despite strenuous GOP opposition and uncertainty about its provisions and costs. (June 17)
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How Health Savings Accounts Help Consumers Avoid Questionable Health Insurance

Monday, March 14th, 2011

How Health Savings Accounts Help Consumers Avoid Questionable Health Insurance

With the recent increase in advertisements for cheap and low-cost health solutions, many consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of the of some health insurance advertisements. Consumers may be wise, says the Idaho Department of Insurance – the state regulatory authority for the Idaho insurance industry. However, if consumers need lower-cost health plans, they should look into opening Health Savings Accounts that come with low-cost high deductible health plans.

According to a press release issued late January from the Idaho Department of Insurance, consumers should beware of television and print advertisements for low, affordable health insurance. Those ads, the organizations says, may not provide consumers with all the information about health policies, prices, and alternative health opportunities.

“Be sure you understand the details of any plan you may be considering before you make a purchase,” says Department Director Bill Deal. “Consider the current or future medical needs you or your family may have. Coverage and deductible options differ widely from plan to plan.”

Deal wants to make sure that consumers understand that “bare bones” health plans that cover very specific health care expenses may have stifling limitations on what health care services and products are covered by the plans. These limitations, says Deal, may be far greater than limitations associated with more comprehensive health insurance plans. However, many qualifying Health Account plans may come with high deductibles, but they may also cover regular check-ups and provide lower cost prescription medications.

“Limited benefit health plans are not intended to replace but to supplement other plans,” the organization said in its press release. “Coverage is restricted to fewer types of medical expenses and has higher co-insurance percentages, higher co-pays and higher deductibles.”

Moreover, the organization wants consumers to be aware that some low cost “High deductible health plans only cover catastrophic health care costs. Consumers pay much more of the up-front cost before the policy pays any benefits for eligible medical expenses.” Again, high deductible Health Savings Account qualifying plans may help to provide solutions to many of the problems associated with other high deductible health insurance plans.

One of the best ways that consumers can ensure that they are getting a health insurance plan that suits their specific needs and budget is to work with a health insurance agent. A health agent will learn about a consumer’s lifestyle, health needs, family needs, financial situation, and other concerns, then match the consumer with the most appropriate health insurance policies for his or her needs. These health insurance policies may include comprehensive health insurance plans, but they may also include low cost high-deductible health insurance plans that come coupled with Health Savings Accounts.

Consumers should also be sure to revisit their health insurance policies annually to ensure that their current policies are congruent with their current health care needs and budgets. Health insurance companies revise their plan offerings and options regularly, which means that consumers may be able to get more appropriate health insurance plans this year than they could last year. Health insurance companies have also adapted many of their plans to meet the needs of consumers who are navigating the current economic situation and who may be affected by health care legislation.

The Idaho Department of Insurance also urges consumers to contact their state insurance departments to ensure that the health insurance company and agent with whom they are dealing are licensed in their state.

By Wiley Long – President, HSA for America (http://www.health–savings–accounts.com) – The nation’s leading independent health insurance agency specializing in individual and family HSA plans that works with a Health Savings Account.


Article from articlesbase.com

Health Saving Accounts

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Health Saving Accounts

Elections come and go. And as those cycles occur, various big ideas also have a tendency to move from their fifteen minutes of fame into the dust bin of old ideas, left there to rot without ever delivering their promised benefits. Health Savings Accounts is one such idea that, unfortunately, has mostly been relegated to that political purgatory. Easy To Insure ME has the answers

This idea was brought to the fore by George W. Bush, although it did not originate with him. In the 1980s, the idea of the IRA changed the way everyone thought about retirement – at least how to fund it. Now nearly everyone, from corporate bigwigs to latte-drinking, NPR-loving liberals, either has one or is contemplating having one.

The IRA is a simple concept, really: a tax-deferred or tax-free account that “incentivizes” (a fancy word for “rewards”) prudence in the form of saving. Of course, I do not need to be an economist or math teacher to know that a lack of savings is a huge problem in our country. In fact, the fundamental problem, from the least to the greatest, is that we are living on credit that does not reflect our true wealth or our true immediate prospects for acquiring it.

In my last piece on health care, I let David Goldhill tell us all the reasons why the new legislation in this area will fail, because it does not address the system’s lack of responsiveness to the market for health services. Christine O’Donnell, in a seemingly rare moment of lucidity, said it best in her debate with Chris Coons: the new law “confuses coverage with care.”

This ignoring of the differences between covering people and caring for them was Goldhill’s whole point. To borrow a word and give it a euphemistic spin, the incentives are perversely misaligned.

The cold reality is that the new Congress – even should there be a Republican majority in both houses – will not repeal the health care reform law, no matter what they say. If the two parties can throw brickbats at each other and win elections without fundamentally altering anything, that is what they will do.

But between throws, the least they could do is give the people a way to help themselves. If they did not just ruin the market for health insurance entirely, we know for sure that it will at least cost more.

Rising prices make the need for incentivizing – there is that word again – health-related savings all the more important. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are just a good idea at a time when our government is less able to help us, even if it were so inclined, than ever before.

I know the Democrats cannot give an actual tax break without their eyes bleeding, but we need one here to get us started. And, no, a tax credit will not do as a substitute. (Note: A tax credit is nothing more than a device to give someone’s tax money to another person who paid none at all.)

HSAs relate to a fundamental matter of individual liberty: helping people save their own money to buy their own coverage so that they can receive medical care when they need it most.

As Congress debates whether to help citizens acquire this coverage, let me ask each member a simple question: whose side are you on?

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