Amid a crowded legislative calendar—including an impeachment trial in the Senate—health care costs remain a top concern for most Americans, wrote Kevin McKechnie, executive director of ABA’s HSA Council, in an op-ed in The Hill today. “Any lawmaker that ignores the issue does so at their peril,” he wrote.
Several proposals with bipartisan support in the House and Senate involve reducing restrictions on health savings accounts, a tax-free vehicle that offers financial flexibility for meeting health care costs, McKechnie added. The Health Savings for Seniors Act, a bill sponsored by Reps. Jason Smith (R-Miss.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Ami Bera (D-Calif.) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) would allow people on Medicare to open and contribute to an HSA.
“This bill and the other HSA proposals on the table give Congress the chance to deliver on reforms that truly help Americans lower their health-care costs,” McKechnie wrote. “That would be an achievement candidates in both parties can campaign on, knowing they are responding to the concerns of their constituents and legislating in the public interest.”
