Sarah McIntosh
Friday, October 31, 2008An HSA Beats an IRABy Sarah McIntoshCategories: HSAs, etc.Do health savings accounts make financial sense? Recent guidelines issued by the Internal Revenue Service put HSAs on equal footing with Individual Retirement Accounts from a tax perspective. But HSAs offer benefits IRAs simply cannot.“Put simply, no other account has the tax advantages that HSAs do,” says Roy Ramthun, co-author of a new report from the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy and a Visiting Fellow at the Council for Affordable Health Insurance. “Throughout the life of an HSA its owners can withdraw funds for medical care tax-free. Because of this, taxpayers should consider fully funding their HSAs first, before other types of retirement accounts.” HSAs were introduced in 2004 and allow individuals to pay for medical services upfront through funds they deposit tax-free into a personal account. A required insurance policy then kicks in for catastrophic expenses. Any unused funds build up from year-to-year and collect interest in the process. The new report “What Can A Health Savings Account Do For You?: The tax, savings, and health spending advantages of HSAs,” provides important information on HSAs and their financial advantages. The report also includes an overview of recent IRS guidance, including rules regarding the ability to rollover funds from an IRA into an HSA. You can read the full report at www.flinthills.org. “Over 6 million Americans have insurance plans tied to health savings accounts,” says Flint Hills Center for Public Policy Senior Fellow and co-author Matthew Hisrich. “Those Kansans without an HSA should consider whether one is right for them. Those who already have an HSA should consider whether they are taking full advantage of this powerful tool.”
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Thursday, August 14, 2008In-Store ClinicsBy Sarah McIntoshCategories: KansasI'm totally pumped for these in-store health care clinics. We just had several new ones open in Wichita, Kansas and I'd like to check them out. They're in our Walgreens. I'm hoping for some Walmart and Target ones soon. How convenient can you get? I hope people will really start to use them so the momentum keeps going. They are open in the evenings and on weekends. You don't make an appointment. Instead you go in, they give you a beeper and you shop while you wait. It's like going to a restaurant and they beep you when they are ready to see you. There is actual price transparency too!They post a list and so you know up front how much it will cost you. Most even take insurance co-pays. What a deal! And wait just a sec, that's not all. You get your prescription and get it filled right there. I can hardly wait to get sick! (Click here for my policy paper on in-store clinics, here for a recent op-ed)
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008Good News for OnceKansas Health Policy Authority Has a New Member By Sarah McIntoshCategories: KansasRep. Neufeld has announced a new appointee to the Kansas Health Policy Authority this week. It's an exciting opportunity because the new appointee is a well-informed individual who is generally in favor of free-markets and individual responsibility. But first, a little history... So the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA) is a group that the legislature created a couple years ago. In 2007 the legislature passes senate bill 11 which tasked the KHPA will studying health care reform options and specifically required them to consider consumer-driven alternatives. Instead the KHPA focused on reforms to expand government health care and to find other ways to take away individual freedoms. For more on this check out a Flint Hills Op-ed by Dr. Gregory Schneider. http://tinyurl.com/6q8tfz So now... Connie Hubbell has retired from the KHPA to start her own lobbying business. Her clients will include those in the health care industry. http://tinyurl.com/5oyao6 While it's good that she is retiring, I can't help but think this must have been in the back of her mind while she was making decisions as part of the KHPA. Rep. Neufeld's new appointee, Ken Daniels is a small business owner and runs the Topeka Independent Business Association (TIBA). http://tinyurl.com/5gh2o6 I'm hopefully that he will be a great addition to the KHPA.
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