The ABA Health Savings Account Council today applauded proposed changes by Department of Health and Human Services to further incorporate health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans into the health insurance plans available from health care exchanges in 2019. The council noted that “the exclusion (in 2017) and limitation (in 2018) on HSA-qualified plan designs was not consumer-friendly and antithetical to making health care more affordable.”
To help promote the visibility of HSA-qualified HDHPs in 2019, the association encouraged HHS to refer to those plans as “HSA-qualified” plans instead of “high-deductible health plans”; list HSA-qualified HDHPs — which are often cost-effective for consumers — first in any list of available plans; and add educational information about the differences between HSA-qualified HDHPs and other HDHPs in coverage examples provided to consumers. ABA also noted that plan issuers should provide information about HSA account custodians and trustees, including banks, and connect enrollees with these partners so their account can be established in a timely manner.
