GETTING IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR:

GOP can win with health care, Rove says (Jack Markowitz, September 27, 2007, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

[A]mericans who want no more government intrusion in their lives can still win the health care debate, says Rove.

Politically, what he said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece was that Republicans can win it if they stand up for that old winner, competition. The free market. In health care, it would unleash greater access, lower costs, more innovation.

First, says Rove, level the tax playing field. If you get health insurance through your job, recognize that you're getting a tax break on that "income." Shouldn't we give the same break to any small-business worker, farmer or self-employed person who buys his or her own insurance?

A related idea: pay routine health costs, such as doctor visits, out of tax-free savings. And use high-deductible insurance for the really big bills: a hospital stay, cancer or heart attack. Rove says 4.5 million families have set up Health Savings Accounts in the past three years, but some Democrats don't like them. Because they liberate the insured from government control.

Healthcare startup thinking big: Company plans to hire 200 workers in Springs during the next 5 years (WAYNE HEILMAN, September 27, 2007, THE GAZETTE)

A Colorado Springs-based startup company hopes to benefit from the growth of a new type of account that helps workers save for health expenses.

Ron Diegelman, president of My-HealthFunds Inc., said he thinks health savings accounts will “catch on like 401k plans did” during the 1980s. [...]

“They are a high-growth company headquartered here. They have so much growth potential,” EDC President Mike Kazmierski said about My-HealthFunds. “If you talk about cutting health care costs, they are in the sweet spot for the entire country.”

Health savings accounts are designed to be used with highdeductible health plans — averaging about $3,500 per family compared with a $250 deductible for traditional health plans. High-deductible plans typically carry much lower monthly premiums.

Employers typically put those premium savings savings into workers’ health savings accounts to pay for deductibles, if needed, Diegelman said. Even after making that contribution, employers can save up to 22 percent on health care spending, he said.

“For a 200-employee company that could mean between $200,000 and $300,000,” Diegelman said. “We target companies with between 100 and 500 employees because they are struggling the most with health care costs and can feel the most benefit from this.”

Workers and their employers put an average of about $4,000 a year into such accounts. The accounts are exempt from federal income taxes and unspent funds can be rolled over into the following year.

There are decades of political benefit for the GOP in being seen as the party that gave us HSAs against the wishes of the Democrats/

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 27, 2007 8:08 AM