Search is Powered by Google
Follow us on:
Follow our health news on Twitter
Follow Our News on Facebook
Personalization
login | register
Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News

President Bush Promotes Use Of Health Savings Accounts At Forum In Oklahoma

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 7:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article


Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

During a forum about health savings accounts on Friday, President Bush promoted expanded use of HSAs and raised concerns that the U.S. health care system is "drifting toward nationalization," the Oklahoman reports. The forum was held at the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park Conference Center in Oklahoma.

During the forum, which included about 15 participants, Bush said that high-deductible health plans with HSAs, which allow individuals to take more responsibility for health care decisions, can help address the health care "crisis" in the U.S. He said that such health plans can encourage small businesses to provide health insurance for employees because they reduce overall health care costs for the companies. "There are two issues, it seems to me, facing small business," he said, adding, "High taxes and health care."

Jennifer Fogg -- president and chief operating officer at Oklahoma City-based Asset Group Inc., a general construction contractor -- said the company has begun to see benefits from offering workers HSAs. Fogg said, "Last year I paid almost $300,000 in employee benefits and having an HSA has actually helped me control costs," she said. However, she added, "It takes a significant educational process. We have found historically that any time we make changes to the health benefit plan it is a challenge to the employees. They don't like to have their health insurance program to be messed around with."

Other speakers at the forum also reported positive experiences with HSAs, the Oklahoman reports. Small business owner Cher Bumps said that she contributes $1,000 to HSAs for single employees and $1,500 for married employees. Bumps said, "Most companies don't finance employer contributing, which is why they haven't been as popular" (Stafford, Oklahoman, 9/13).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Hemophilia Opioid Induced Constipation Pneumococcal Disease ADHD Anxiety Asthma Atrial Fibrillation Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Please fill in our survey

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
The French Health Care System
08 Jun 2009
The public health insurance program in France was established in 1945 and its coverage for its affiliates have undergone many changes since then. One of the major changes has resulted in the expansion to all legal...


Flossing Your Teeth The Right Way
Flossing Your Teeth The Right Way

Flossing is important for a healthy mouth. But to get the most benefit without causing pain, you need to know how to do it the right way.

more videos are available in our health videos section.