http://debunkbigpharma.blognation.us/blog

According to news reports, President Bush will use the State of the
Union address to promote "health savings accounts" as a solution to
America's health care crisis. Health savings accounts (HSAs) were
dramatically expanded in the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill.
Generally speaking, they are tax-free savings accounts combined with
high-deductible insurance policies that people obtain through their
employers or buy independently from insurance companies. "In exchange
for paying at least the first $1,050 of their medical expenses each
year (or for families, a deductible of the first $2,100), consumers are
supposed to benefit in two ways: lower monthly premiums and the ability
to put pretax dollars into a savings account that grows tax-free." But,
multiple studies have shown that HSAs are likely to increase the number
of uninsured and increase health care costs, all while costing
taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. In other words, President Bush
is proposing to do for health care what he's already tried with Social
Security -- placing more of the cost burden on individuals, while
making the system more attractive to the wealthy but less effective for
ordinary Americans who need health coverage most.

HSAs WILL NOT ADDRESS INCREASING RATE OF UNINSURED AMERICANS

LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME AMERICANS GAIN LITTLE OR NO TAX SAVINGS FROM
HSAs

HSA USERS PAY MORE OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS:

HSAs COULD COST TAXPAYERS $41 BILLION OVER TEN YEARS

HSA USERS MORE LIKELY TO AVOID, SKIP, OR DELAY HEALTH CARE BECAUSE OF
COSTS

HSA USERS MORE LIKELY TO HAVE DIFFICULTY PAYING MEDICAL BILLS

HSAs WILL UNDERMINE EMPLOYER-BASED HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

COST SAVINGS ARE ILLUSORY

HSA EXPERIMENTS HAVE FAILED IN OTHER COUNTRIES