Comments on: McCain’s Plan - Millions Will Lose Insurance Coverage http://rinf.com/alt-news/politics/mccains-plan-millions-will-lose-insurance-coverage/3574/ Breaking News, Alternative News & Media Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:53:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Jamie http://rinf.com/alt-news/politics/mccains-plan-millions-will-lose-insurance-coverage/3574/comment-page-1/#comment-64578 Jamie Wed, 28 May 2008 20:16:20 +0000 http://rinf.com/alt-news/politics/mccains-plan-millions-will-lose-insurance-coverage/3574/#comment-64578 I take it you have not had a health savings account before. I've had one for the last few years, and I've never felt so empowered when it comes to what medical providers I choose, what procedures they perform, and how much I'm willing to pay. When you combine an HSA with a high-deductible insurance plan, you pay your medical costs (or a large portion of them) up until the deductible, but once you reach that deductible all of your costs (or most of them, depending on what plan you elect to have) are paid for by the insurance provider. The main benefit of HSAs is that they make consumers price-sensitive to health care costs, which means doctors, hospitals, eyeglass-providers, etc. can't keep jacking up prices without losing some of their business. Eventually that will mean lower prices for everyone. Contrast that to traditional insurance plans, Medicaid, etc., where it doesn't really matter to individuals how much procedures cost because they're not directly paying for them. And perhaps the greatest thing is that the money is yours to keep, which gives you an incentive to live a healthy lifestyle with a focus on prevention. I take it you have not had a health savings account before. I’ve had one for the last few years, and I’ve never felt so empowered when it comes to what medical providers I choose, what procedures they perform, and how much I’m willing to pay. When you combine an HSA with a high-deductible insurance plan, you pay your medical costs (or a large portion of them) up until the deductible, but once you reach that deductible all of your costs (or most of them, depending on what plan you elect to have) are paid for by the insurance provider.

The main benefit of HSAs is that they make consumers price-sensitive to health care costs, which means doctors, hospitals, eyeglass-providers, etc. can’t keep jacking up prices without losing some of their business. Eventually that will mean lower prices for everyone. Contrast that to traditional insurance plans, Medicaid, etc., where it doesn’t really matter to individuals how much procedures cost because they’re not directly paying for them.

And perhaps the greatest thing is that the money is yours to keep, which gives you an incentive to live a healthy lifestyle with a focus on prevention.

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