Today's HSA News

last updated 3/3/2008

3/2/2008 - Google to Offer Health Records On the Web
Google Inc. today announced an online repository where consumers can store their health information -- a move that could boost the nation's fledgling efforts to adopt electronic medical records.

3/4/2008 - Wisconsin discusses nonconformity to HSA provisions
For tax years beginning after 2003, the Wisconsin personal income tax does not conform to the provisions

11/25/2007- Employees not seeing many HSA bargains - But when employers offer an HSA to their workers along with other insurance options, studies have shown that employees tend to favor more traditional coverage. Some economists believe part of the problem is that employers aren't pricing their HSA's appropriately.

9/19/2007 - The Return of HillaryCare - Thirteen years after “HillaryCare,” her failed one-woman crusade for universal healthcare coverage, became a byword for political overreach, Sen. Hillary Clinton is in the health care business once again. On Monday, Clinton unveiled the “American Health Choices Plan,” her latest bid to enact universal coverage by expanding government control over health care. Meet the new Hillary Clinton, same as the old Hillary Clinton.

9/18/2007 - Health care, the Swiss way - Everyone knows our health-care system, superior as it is in many ways, is too expensive, bureaucratic and wasteful. Basically, we hand over $2.2 trillion.

9/12/2007 - Employers fail to make consumer-driven plans attractive - By Mary Jo Feldstein
So, after all the fuss about health insurance plans with high deductibles and special savings accounts, most employees aren't taking the bait.

9/5/07 OH - Sycamore Board of Education approves contract, adopts HSA The Sycamore Board of Education approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement with OAPSE (Ohio Association of Public School Employees) Local 243 during a special meeting Aug. 29.

8/28/07 Rhode Island Teacher Union Suggests HSA Health Plan but criticized by District - Mullen, the union president, said teachers are eager to get negotiations behind them and settle into the new school year. The School Committee president, had criticized the teachers’ most recent offer as too expensive. She said it failed to support claims of significant savings in an alternate health-insurance plan with a high deductible and health savings account.

Michigan Districts look to cut insurance bills through health savings accounts
Superintendent Bob Smith estimates his district will save more than $200,000 on health insurance in 2008 by moving to a health savings account plan. The Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker Board of Education and the Laker Education Association agreed to the plan as part of a new teacher contract ratified in March. The district joins a small, but growing, number of employers in the public and private sectors using the accounts, according to the U.S. Treasury.

8/19/2007 Michigan School districts report saving money in insurance pool
School districts that banded together to form a regional health insurance pool in southwest Michigan say they are saving an average of 7 percent on insurance costs, and the number of districts in the pool has jumped from nine to 29. A consultant working with the pool members says his company now is exploring similar ventures in other parts of Michigan.

8/14/07 - Publix to offer 7 popular prescription antibiotics for free -
Publix supermarket chain said today it will make seven common prescription antibiotics available for free, joining other major retailers in trying to lure customers to their stores with cheap medications.

8/13/07 N.J. benefit crisis has no easy answer
For the first time ever, New Jersey's largest state workers union ratified a contract this year that requires employees and retirees to contribute to their health insurance.

8/1/2007 - Health Insurance open enrollment for self-employed
Self-employed Floridians are being reminded that August is open enrollment month for single-group employers to get health insurance or switch plans on a guaranteed-issue basis, meaning insurers and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) must offer coverage without regard to health status. The open enrollment period begins today and continues through August 31, 2007.“There is no other time of year that coverage is guaranteed for the self-employed, so they should act now to get insurance or review their current policy.”

7/30/07 - TROY, MI- Firefighters OK contract with city - The Uniformed Firefighters Association overwhelmingly ratified a contract proposal that includes adopting a HSA health plan.

6/6/07 - County insurance program is defended
The guest commentary authored by Neil Rainford which appeared in the June 3 edition of the Herald Times Reporter contained so many inaccuracies that a response is merited.

6/6/07 - Is a little medical coverage that much better than none? Plans with tight caps on payouts are gaining popularity — and also drawing complaints. Then the Michigan couple began getting bills from doctors and the hospital, for more than $8,000. To his surprise, Camilleri's insurance didn't cover any of it because his wife had surpassed a $2,500-a-person annual limit on what the policy would pay.

5/31/07 - Towns shift health burden - Area towns are reining in the cost of health insurance for their employees by adopting coverage plans with higher co-payments for doctor visits. The changes have to be approved by employee unions,

5/31/07 - Dumbing down HSAs
Wanting to teach people about health savings accounts, and perhaps generate some business, Priority Health ventured into the publishing world.The Grand Rapids-based health plan partnered with the publisher of the popular "For Dummies" series of books for a how-to guide on HSAs.

5/30/07 - UAW should take a tip from Bucyrus workers - Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, could make the spun-off Chrysler Corp. successful, at no disadvantage to his members.He just has to follow the lead of Steelworkers Local 1343 at Bucyrus International, which went along with CEO Tim Sullivan into a mandatory consumer-driven health plan.

5/16/07 - Health Insurance and Other Benefits: A Primer
Business owners who want to offer benefits like health insurance and tax-deferred retirement plans for themselves and their employees face two daunting hurdles: high costs and complicated federal laws intended to prevent plans from discriminating in favor of top employees.

4/25/07 - Wagner’s insurance bill headed to Senate
A second part of the bill would create the option for the city to allow the self-employed to take
a deduction for a health-savings account, Wagner said.

4/25/07 - Wisconsin needs HSA deduction
States ought to be doing everything possible to promote HSAs as an option for citizens to obtain healthcare coverage. Unfortunately, the State of Wisconsin is missing a critical component of HSA legislation that would facilitate that choice: HSA contributions are not tax deductible from state income taxes.

Comparing California, Massachusetts Health Plans Listen to this story...· The universal health plan proposed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger follows a model established in Massachusetts. Michael Miller, director of Community Catalyst, a national health care advocacy group based in Boston, tells Steve Inskeep what the two plans have in common.

CALIFORNIA - NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN! Click here for all the details and VIDEO With 6.5 million Californians uninsured for all or part of the year - more than any other state in the nation - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today shared his comprehensive plans to reform California's broken health care system by addressing the hidden costs that result in billions of dollars in higher premiums and taxes.

Why Big Business Opposes Market-Based Medical Plans 1/21/07 One of the best articles I have read in the last month! A must read for all!

More employers cutting benefit costs with HSAs 1/14/07 Billy Zeigler, the president and operations manager of Midway Machine in Athens, found out the company would be paying $1,000 to $1,200 more each month for its share of employees' premiums if it kept the same PPO (preferred provider organization) plan for health insurance.

CANADIANS WAIT LONGER FOR MEDICAL CARE 1/9/07 In recent years, patients treated by the Canadian health care system have increasingly experienced lengthy waits to see providers. According a new study on medical care in Canada, released in October 2006 by the Fraser Institute, "waiting times are the legacy of a medical system offering low expectations cloaked in lofty rhetoric."

California Eyes Health Insurance for All - 1/9/2007
With more uninsured Americans than any state in the nation, California begins a debate about health-care reform. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a dramatic and detailed plan with potential appeal to both Republicans and Democrats.

Health care law on the way - 12/14/06
Gov. Bob Taft is expect to sign a bill that will give Ohio small businesses new ways to save on their health insurance. The bill passed the General Assembly.

Congress expands health care spending accounts at last minute - 12/12/06
Republican lawmakers, with little public debate, quietly added a billion-dollar health-care benefit to legislation that was rushed through Congress just before it adjourned Saturday morning.

HSA Expansion in OHIO - 11/26/06
The lame-duck legislature in Ohio is considering a bill by state Sen. Lou Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican, to require that all public employees be given an option of at least three health savings accounts.

County finds another health insurance option - 11/15/2006 - Wisconsin
Health savings accounts offered to employees Manitowoc County is offering its employees a third health insurance option that County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer calls "a major step in the right direction" toward controlling health insurance costs.