Pronk Palisades

Patient Empowerment: Health Savings Accounts–High Deductible Catastrophic Health Insurance–An Affordable, Portable, Fair, Individual Health Care Insurance Plan–Consumer Driven Health Care Reform!

Posted on August 13, 2009. Filed under: Blogroll, Economics, Fiscal Policy, Health Care, Law, liberty, Life, Medicine, People, Philosophy, Politics, Quotations, Rants, Raves, Regulations, Video, Wisdom | Tags: Barack Obama, Health Care Reform, Health Saving Accounts, High Deductible Catastrophic Health Insurance, John Mackey, President Obama, Whole Foods |

Obama: I would do healthcare differently from Clinton

Barack Obama’s plan for HEALTH CARE

Health Care Reform – Why Do We Need Health Reform?

 
John Stossel – Sick in America – Part 5 (of 6)

Health Care Reform: Cost (one minute policy update)

One Minute Policy Update: Health Care Quality

One Minute Policy Update: Health Care Access

The Big Squeeze

 

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare

Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit.

By John Mackey

“… Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.

• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.

• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.

• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.

• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor’s visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?

• Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.

• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. …”

Mr. Mackey is co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market Inc.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Join the Second American Revolution.

Send a message both to President Obama and your Senators and Representative by signing the Free Our Health Care Petition:

http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/

Please take a minute to sign this petition keeping Government control OUT of healthcare.

http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/

 

Yes, private individual health insurance plans with Health Savings Accounts are better than a government monopoly like the Post Office!

No need for a public insurer option plan that would lead to a single payer government monopoly like the Post Office for First Class Mail.

Ever hear of e-mail and text messaging Mr. President?

Time to close the Post Office and bury the public option plan– the path to a single payer health care government monopoly.

For those who want a single payer system give them a one way plane ticket to Canada!

LOL

Obama on Health Care being Like Post Office, Private Insurance like UPS and FedEx

 

The Marvelettes Please Mr. Postman

 

Please Mr. Postman (ObamaCare Remix)

Oh yes, wait a minute, Mr. Postman
Way-ay-ay-ait, Mr. Postman

Please, Mr. Postman, look and see
If I qualify for surgery
I’ve been waiting a mighty long time
Just to hear from that doctor of mine

There must be some word today
About my much-needed hospital stay
Please, Mr. Postman, look and see
What are my chances of mortality?

I’ve been standing here waiting, Mr. Postman
So-oh-oh unhealthy
For just a word from my physician
Saying he’ll be getting ’round to me

Please, Mr. Postman, look and see
If it’s a gurney or a hearse for me
I’d like to ask, if you really don’t mind
For just a minute of a specialist’s time

So many days you passed me by
If I don’t get help soon, I’ll probably die
You wouldn’t stop to make me feel better
I’ve got worse health care than an Irish Setter

Please, Mr. Postman, look and see
What are my chances, oh yeah, of recovery?
You know, it’s been so long
Yeah, since I heard ’bout those lab tests of mine

You better wait a minute, wait a minute
Whoa, you better wait a minute
Please, please, Mr. Postman
Please check it and see, am I a casualty?

You better wait, wait a minute
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute
Please, Mr. Postman
It’s not just a rumor, please look at this tumor

[slow fade while descending into the grave]

http://jimtreacher.com/archives/002109.html

 

 

Background Articles and Videos

Health Savings Account

“…A health savings account (HSA), is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to the account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. Unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), funds roll over and accumulate year over year if not spent. HSAs are owned by the individual, which differentiates them from the company-owned Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) that is an alternate tax-deductible source of funds paired with HDHPs. Funds may be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability. Withdrawals for non-medical expenses are treated very similarly to those in an IRA in that they may provide tax advantages if taken after retirement age, and they incur penalties if taken earlier. These accounts are a component of consumer driven health care.

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. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_savings_account

 High Deductible Health Plan

A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is a health insurance plan with lower premiums and higher deductibles than a traditional health plan.

As related to health savings accounts

Participating in a “qualified” HDHP is a requirement for health savings accounts and other tax advantaged programs. In this context, HDHPs are plans with a minimum deductible of $1,150 for Self and $2,300 for Self and Family coverage. The maximum amount out-of-pocket limits for HDHPs is $5,800 for self and $11,600 for Self and Family enrollment. The IRS released the 2010 amounts on May 15, 2009 via Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2009-29 and will be modified each year to reflect the change in cost-of-living.

Year	Minimum Deductible (Single)	Minimum Deductible (Family)	Maximum Out of Pocket (Single)	Maximum Out of Pocket (Family)
2005	$1,000	$2,000	$5,100	$10,200
2006	$1,050	$2,100	$5,250	$10,500
2007	$1,100	$2,200	$5,500	$11,000
2008	$1,100	$2,200	$5,600	$11,200
2009	$1,150	$2,300	$5,800	$11,600
2010	$1,200	$2,400	$5,950	$11,900

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Deductible_Health_Plan

Catastrophic Health Insurance Plans

“…Catastrophic health insurance policies are primarily designed to cover major health and medical expenses. These policies are not intended to pay for routine doctor’s office visits or trips to the emergency room.

Catastrophic health insurance plans, also known as high-deductible health plans, refer to health insurance plans that provide comprehensive health insurance benefits, but only after a high deductible cost is reached. It is meant to protect against catastrophic injury or treatment. Catastrophic health insurance is more of a financial protection versus a medical benefits plan. Premiums are relatively lower in cost than other options, but they usually require a higher deductible ranging from $500 to $15,000, depending on the plan.

Catastrophic health plans are generally eligible for a tax-advantaged Health Savings Account (HSA). If this is the case, you are eligible to use your HSA funds to pay for deductible and out-of-pocket medical expenses. For a catastrophic health plan to be eligible for coupling with an HSA, it must adhere to certain deductible amounts stipulated by the IRS. For 2008, the deductible amounts are $1,100 for individuals and $2,200 for families.

How Catastrophic Insurance Works
“… Catastrophic insurance is a type of fee-for-service health insurance policy that is designed to give protection against, well, a catastrophe. It is sometimes referred to as a High Deductible Health Plan because low monthly premiums are traded for a significantly higher deductible. This means that with this plan, routine doctor’s visits and prescription costs are more expensive, but monthly premiums are lower. So you take on more out-of-pocket expenses in exchange for lower premiums. If you’re healthy, you save money. But if something catastrophic happens, you’re covered.

Basically, you pay for what you need rather than what you might need. This means that once you meet the deductible, you pay the same percentage of the total visit fee, whether you are seeing a specialist for your diabetes or a general practitioner for a simple physical. Therefore, you are free to follow the best course of action to suit your health care needs.

There are two basic types of catastrophic plan: comprehensive and supplemental. A comprehensive plan offers coverage comparable to more traditional health care plans. There is still a high deductible and monthly fees are still relatively low — but they’re higher than those in supplemental catastrophic plans. The advantage of a comprehensive plan is that you can be covered for emergency services, like a trip to the ER or a ride in an ambulance, but at a lower monthly premium than a traditional plan. A supplemental plan is just that — it acts as a supplement to other insurance plans you might have. Medical appliances, nursing care and psychiatric care might be included in a supplemental plan.

In both types of catastrophic insurance plans, once your deductible is met the insurance company covers the major medical expenses that it deems necessary, like hospital stays, surgeries, lab tests and intensive care. Like in other insurance plans, elective procedures are not covered. …”

http://health.howstuffworks.com/insurance/catastrophic-insurance.htm

 

A ‘Common Sense’ American Health Reform Plan

By Uwe E. Reinhardt

“…The All-American Wish List for Health Reform

1. Only patients and their own doctors should decide what clinical response is appropriate for a given medical condition, even if that response involves unproven clinical procedures or technology.
2. Neither government bureaucrats nor private insurance bureaucrats should ever refuse to pay for whatever patients and their doctors have decided to do in response to a given medical condition. An insurer’s refusal to pay for a medical procedure is tantamount to rationing health care.
3. Rationing health care is un-American.
4. Cost-effectiveness analysis should never be the basis of any coverage decision by public or private third-party payers in health care, for to do so would put a price on human life — which, in America, unlike everywhere else, is priceless.
5. Government should not require individuals to purchase health insurance. Such a mandate would violate the constitutional rights of freedom-loving Americans.
6. Americans have a moral right to life-saving and potentially highly expensive medical care, should they fall critically ill, even if they are uninsured and could not possibly pay for that care with their own financial resources. (Why else would God have created hospitals and their emergency rooms?)
7. Government should stay out of health care. Specifically, government should not control health care prices, nor should it increase its spending on health care, which is out of control.
8. Even small reductions to the future growth of Medicare spending — called “cuts” in Washington parlance — unfairly burden the elderly, along with the doctors and hospitals that serve them and the manufacturers of health products, lest the pace of technical innovation be impaired.  …”

 Uwe E. Reinhardt is an economics professor at Princeton.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/a-common-sense-american-health-reform-plan/

 

Mr. Postman – The Obamacare Remix

By Michelle Malkin 

“… I have been humming this all day long. 

…”  

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/12/mr-postman-the-obamacare-remix/

Health Savings Accounts

 Health Savings Account – Savings Portion Explained

Health Savings Accounts – Part 2 – HDHP Insurance

Why Make HSA Contributions?

HSA; Spend or Save?

HSA Qualified Expenses

 

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