From Ari Armstrong:
Despite enactment of the Democratic health law, one reform Republicans and market advocates should fight to keep alive is the Health Savings Account (HSA), which allows people to put pre-tax money into an account dedicated to health-related expenses.
Experiences my wife and I have had this week illustrate the power of paying for one’s own health care, which an HSA encourages. Rather than pay a hundred plus dollars each to a doctor and an out-of-state testing facility, we each paid King Soopers $20 to test our blood cholesterol. I’m not saying this is a good substitute for seeing a doctor, but we wanted to get a test between regular doctor visits. Our actions illustrate the fallacy of claims that self-payers don’t get preventive treatment. We are highly committed to doing what we can to prevent long-term health problems by taking care of ourselves and paying for preventive care.
Yesterday we checked out Good Samaritan Exempla in Broomfield (more on this later). When we asked for referrals for local doctors, the hospital’s representative told us, “You’ll probably want to pick a doctor based on what your insurance allows.” I proudly replied, “No, we will pick a doctor based on who we judge is the best doctor.”
Paying for one’s own health care encourages the health consumer to be active-minded and pro-active. It encourages the consumer to seek good value for the money. In short, it promotes better long-term results for lower costs.
Read the whole post: Keep Pushing for Health Savings Accounts.
(Via FIRM)
