Federal Health Care Regulation: Taxation

Today we will discuss how the tax code affects health care. Tax exemption of employer-provided health insurance. “In 1943, the Internal Revenue Service (ruled) that employees could exclude the value of employer-paid health insurance premiums from their taxable income. In 1954, Congress excluded by statute the value of employer-purchase health insurance from gross income.” To…

Adverse Selection in Action

For individuals who have recently lost their job, Carolyn’s Blog advises them how to get health insurance coverage. “Unless you have a pre-existing condition you should only stick with COBRA until you find a private health insurance plan.  Believe it or not, if you go with a High Deductible Health Care Plan (HDHP) for a…

HRAs vs. HSAs

On Friday I posted on Consumer Driven Health Care.  These consumer driven health plans (CDHPs) involve individuals having direct discretion about how health care dollars are spent.  If you are interested in CDHP, there may still be some confusion over which H?A you prefer.  Is a HRA (Health Reimbursement Account or Health Reimbursement Arrangement) or…

CDHPs and Small Business

Consumer directed health plans (CDHP) seem like an attractive option for small businesses. CDHPs utilize high deductible health plans (HDHP) making patients pay more money out of pocket. Because of this, insurance premiums are lower. These HDHPs can be linked to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Since small businesses do not…

Health Insurance: Why rent when you could own?

Devon M. Herrick writes an article (“Why rent…“) creating a clever analogy comparing HSAs to equity in a house. He likens traditional health insurance to renting a home, while having a Health Savings Account (HSA) is more like owning the home. Making contributions to HSAs in essence gives you “equity” towards future health care expenses.…

Tax-preferred health savings accounts

Health savings accounts (HSAs) have been a major point of contention for health care reformers. Supporters claim that HSAs can reduce health care costs by decreasing the moral hazard problem inherent when third parties—such as insurance companies or the government—pay for medical services. Opponents claims that HSAs will attract rich and healthy individuals, leaving only…