Small Biz Health Care Daily: Obama and HSAs

During his health care summit, President Obama declared the following to Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), who is a doctor, regarding health savings accounts: “John, members of Congress are in the top income brackets of the country, and health savings accounts I think can be a useful tool, but every study has shown that the people who use them are folks who've got a lot of disposable income. And the people that we're talking about don't.”

Really?

CAHI recently reported on a survey from America’s Health Insurance Plans: “Most HSA account holders live in middle and lower- middle income neighborhoods. For example, 3 per- cent live in neighborhoods with incomes less than $25,000 and 46 percent live in neighborhoods with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000; only 5 per- cent live in neighborhoods with incomes above $100,000.”

Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council