Congress should expand consumers’ abilities to benefit from health savings accounts, according to a report issued today by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury.
Specifically, the report recommended allowing any plan with an actuarial value below 70 percent to be HSA-qualified; raising the HSA contribution limit; allowing HSA owners to use their account for HSA-qualified non-group premiums; allowing Medicare beneficiaries in enrolled high-deductible health plans to contribute to an HSA, and permitting HSA owners to enter into provider-consumer fixed-fee arrangements, including direct primary-care arrangements. Congress should also consider allowing all Americans to maintain and contribute to an HSA, the report said, regardless of whether they are enrolled in an HDHP.
The report — issued in response to a White House executive order on expanding access to affordable health care — also said that the executive branch should explore ways to administratively use of HSAs, including by interpreting “preventive services” to allow HSA-qualified plans greater ability to cover preventive low-cost treatments for chronic conditions. For more information, contact ABA’s Kevin McKechnie.
