IT HAS TO BE THE DEFAULT SETTING:

UAW should take a tip from Bucyrus workers (John Torinus, May 19, 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, could make the spun-off Chrysler Corp. successful, at no disadvantage to his members. [...]

He could see the transparency system installed by Humana and the Business Health Care Group in Milwaukee, which shows net prices on three dozen hospital and clinic procedures.

He could take the temperature of employees in consumer-driven plans, and he would find out that they are satisfied - even happy - to be back in control of their health care decisions. They also have to be happy to be working at companies where profits are possible, and jobs relatively secure, because health costs are not dragging companies into the hands of buyout firms or oblivion.

The learning in the private sector over the last five years is that it's the economic structure of health care that's the problem - and that it can be fixed.

The stampede to creating a marketplace is on. By January 2007, there were 4.2 million health savings accounts in place, up 40% from 2006.

That introduction of incentives and consumerism, coupled with the bright spotlight of transparency, bring about the wonderful self-correcting disciplines of a marketplace.

In health care, there are only two possible solutions: government regulation with its price controls or the marketplace.

Education is crucial to success of HSAs (ANDI ATWATER, 5/20/07, The Wichita Eagle)

Health Savings Accounts aren't quite as popular among employers -- and employees -- as anticipated, but many are optimistic that the tax-free savings vehicle for medical expenses will soon catch on.

President Bush approved the creation of the much-touted HSA in his Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act effective Jan. 1, 2004.

But today, only an estimated 8 million employees are enrolled in HSAs -- roughly 3 percent of America's insured.

HSAs were part of an answer to rising health care costs, thought to widely appeal to employers because of their inherent cost savings and to employees by creating a savings account they own that can travel from job to job and, among other tax advantages, be passed on to heirs.

Tied to a high-deductible health plan, HSAs were hoped to be a bridge to consumer-driven health care, giving unprecedented control to employees over how they spends their health care dollars, thus bringing awareness of the cost of medical care into the public consciousness.

The key to making choice work in the health care marketplace is not leaving the choice of whether to be in an HSA up to those to whom health care coverage is being provided.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 21, 2007 12:00 AM