Friday, April 22, 2005
CAHI counters “healthy and wealthy” argument
[Victoria Craig Bunce and Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., "HSAs: Need Only the Healthy and Wealthy Apply?," The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, April 2005.]
HSA detractors seem to be switching gears from saying that they will only appeal to the young, healthy, and wealthy. Instead, the reasoning now seems to be along the lines of “well, they may work for some, but not everybody." Essentially it’s just a variant of the original argument, but the difference is the latter requires no evidence, since the evidence is mounting against the former:
For more than a decade, critics of consumer driven policies have claimed HSAs would only attract healthy people and lead to adverse selection, in which some plans end up covering a disproportionate number of sick people. Adverse selection drives up premiums, making policies unaffordable. The critics also assert that wealthy people will want HSAs, but not those with lower incomes.
Clearly the recent HSA survey data prove the critics wrong. Middle-aged workers are more likely to choose an HSA, and lower-income workers often choose HSAs when given the chance.
When patients are paying more attention to the cost of health care and demanding value for their dollars, total health care spending will decline. And when spending declines, health insurance will be much more affordable, which will reduce the number of uninsured.
It is time for the critics to look at the data and abandon their doomsday warnings. HSAs are here and they are doing very well, and they are changing the way people think about and shop for health care.
[Devon Herrick, "Health Savings Accounts: The Future Of Health Care For Kansans," The Flint Hills Center, 14 February 2005.]
[Victoria Craig Bunce and Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., "HSAs: Need Only the Healthy and Wealthy Apply?," The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, April 2005.]
HSA detractors seem to be switching gears from saying that they will only appeal to the young, healthy, and wealthy. Instead, the reasoning now seems to be along the lines of “well, they may work for some, but not everybody." Essentially it’s just a variant of the original argument, but the difference is the latter requires no evidence, since the evidence is mounting against the former:
For more than a decade, critics of consumer driven policies have claimed HSAs would only attract healthy people and lead to adverse selection, in which some plans end up covering a disproportionate number of sick people. Adverse selection drives up premiums, making policies unaffordable. The critics also assert that wealthy people will want HSAs, but not those with lower incomes.
Clearly the recent HSA survey data prove the critics wrong. Middle-aged workers are more likely to choose an HSA, and lower-income workers often choose HSAs when given the chance.
When patients are paying more attention to the cost of health care and demanding value for their dollars, total health care spending will decline. And when spending declines, health insurance will be much more affordable, which will reduce the number of uninsured.
It is time for the critics to look at the data and abandon their doomsday warnings. HSAs are here and they are doing very well, and they are changing the way people think about and shop for health care.
[Devon Herrick, "Health Savings Accounts: The Future Of Health Care For Kansans," The Flint Hills Center, 14 February 2005.]
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