House Bill Would Provide Tax Incentives To HSA Enrollees

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 08 May 2006 - 14:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Wednesday introduced a bill (HR 5262) that would provide tax incentives to people enrolled in HSAs, CQ HealthBeat reports. Tax incentives would be provided for premium payments and contributions to HSAs and would include a credit of up to $3,000 for purchases by low-income families. Cantor in a statement said, "For years, people in Washington have been looking for a solution to achieve universal health coverage. Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all government program on workers and families, the Tax-Free Health Savings Act empowers individuals with making their own health care decisions." Department of the Treasury Secretary John Snow, who joined Cantor at a press conference to introduce the legislation, said more than three million U.S. residents are covered under HSA-qualified plans, "a large portion of whom were previously uninsured." President Bush on Monday in a speech to the American Hospital Association urged Congress to approve various health care proposals, including Cantor's bill (Sedlar, CQ HealthBeat, 5/3).

A webcast of Bush's speech is available online at kaisernetwork.org.

"Reprinted with 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 . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations