No, my complaint is the misrepresentation and unoriginality of it.
well if it's unoriginal that's probably because it is rather obvious to any who choose to pay attention. "Gosh you are claiming there weren't the kind of WMD programs in Iraq that Bush claimed there were? Man, how
unoriginal." :roll:
nor is it misrepresentation; these people are very blatant and direct about what they are doing. in the words of the President, they think it's better for everyone to "spread the wealth around".
Tort reform has been tackled at the state level and has done nothing to lower costs.
wrong, tort reform has been tackled at the state level, has been done poorly, and has marginally effected costs; mostly by increasing the supply of doctors.
Largely because it really isn't the biggest problem.
that is correct; the largest problem is our third-party-payer dominant model, which discourages savings and encourages overconsumption.
As for HSA's, you're more a pie in the sky view than a reality
Proponents of HSAs believe that they are an important reform that will help reduce the growth of health care costs and increase the efficiency of the health care system. According to proponents, HSAs encourage saving for future health care expenses, allow the patient to receive needed care without a gate keeper to determine what benefits are allowed and make consumers more responsible for their own health care choices through the required High-Deductible Health Plan.
Opponents of HSAs say they worsen, rather than improve, the U.S. health system's problems because people who are healthy will leave insurance plans while people who have health problems will avoid HSAs. There is also debate about consumer satisfaction with these plans. Some opponents believe medical expenses should be tax deductible for all individuals, not only those who have a savings plan.
:lol: really? that's the best charge against HSA's you can come up with? that it's good for large numbers of people and gee wiz we wish more health expenses were tax deductible?
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in April 2008 that many individuals enrolled in HSA-qualified health plans did not open tax-qualified HSA accounts, and individuals that had HSA accounts had higher incomes than others.
well yeah. they got that way by doing things like purchasing HSA's. I wish like hell that I had that option; but my employer insists on purchasing health insurance and won't let me opt out of it. man, if only we had, like,
choices....
According to the report, nationally representative surveys conducted by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
first issue.
"A survey conducted by the McDonalds Corporation indicates that people consider the Big Mac superior to the Whopper"
"In other news today, Harry Reid thinks he would make a better Senator than Sharon Angle."
:roll:
in 2005 to 2007 found that 42 to 49 percent of HSA-eligible plan enrollees did not open HSAs in those years.
soooo a majority of people
did prefer an HSA. and that's considered a point against them. now, it's not the 70% of Indiana's workers that i cited earlier (that's an outlier); but i'm still not sure how the fact that a Majority of Americans who
can get them, do, is a valid point
against HSA's.
Based on an examination of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, GAO found that tax filers who reported HSA account activity had higher average incomes than other tax filers.
in other news, more successful people tend to make smarter decisions about things like health insurance. GAO also discovered that tax filers who consistently recieve more income tend to make better investment decisions and tend not to purchase houses and cars they can't afford. :roll:
Contributions into HSA accounts ($754 million in 2005) were roughly double withdrawals from the accounts ($366 million).
and that's a
good thing.
Average contributions were also roughly twice average withdrawals ($2,100 versus $1,000).
hooray!
41% of tax filers who made an HSA contribution did not make any withdrawals
GOOD. this is
exactly the kind of thing we
want to be happening
Some consumer organizations, such as Consumers Union, and many medical organizations, such as the American Public Health Association, oppose HSAs because, in their opinion, they benefit only healthy, younger people and make the health care system more expensive for everyone else. According to Stanford economist Victor Fuchs, "The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance."[19]
tell me more about how you aren't in favor of redistribution?
Consumer satisfaction results have been mixed. While a 2005 survey by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association found widespread satisfaction among HSA customers[24], a survey published in 2007 by employee benefits consultants Towers Perrin came to the opposite conclusion; it found that employees currently enrolled in such plans were significantly less satisfied with many elements of the health benefit plan compared to those enrolled in traditional health benefit plans.[25]
less satisfied with 'some of the elements' of HSA's? :lol: people who have HSA's love the fact that they get to keep and invest their wealth as opposed to sending it off to an insurance agency every month; but aren't too fond of having to pay more at the point-of-purchase for minor things like checkups.
oh my gosh people don't like one particular element of HSA's!!!! which is why - as mentioned earlier - a majority of people who have access to them choose them....
In 2006, a Government Accountability Office report concluded: "HSA-eligible plan enrollees who participated in GAO's focus groups generally reported positive experiences, but most would not recommend the plans to all consumers.
oh my. what a devastating destruction of HSA's.
No, my argument is it didn't deal with the problem. It was more fluff that actually did nothing.
HSA's absolutely help with the problem. as would dropping the state border restriction, making all health expenses equally tax-protected, and some kind of basic loser-pays tort reform that fixes the current incentives offered by the court system. lawyers should have some kind of payment if they encourage frivolous lawsuits.
