Holding My Breath

Though HR 5719 will likely pass the Senate.

I like to consider myself an independent/libertarian, but I get so pissed off at Democrats that I am clearly a Republican. To add insult to injury, my congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R], has voted in favor of HR 5719, sponsored by the traitorous Charles "Charlie" Rangel [D]. See, he calls himself "Charlie" so he seems more folksy. It's like he's just one of your buddies, you know? He's not some b.s. artist who lives in a mansion in DC, or anything.

I hope she appreciates my voting for her in the last election. It won't happen again. If you'd like to see how your congressperson voted, check out GovTrack.

Stop HR 5719!

Check out this website. If you have any interest in keeping Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) around, you should call your congressperson and urge him or her to vote against HR 5719, which passed the House Ways and Means Committee last week and is going to a full House vote tomorrow. Basically, a company called Evolution Benefits lobbied to have a provision sneaked into the bill that would require substantiation of claims (proof that HSA dollars are spent on authorized products and services) at the risk of being fined by the tax man. It will cost HSA administrators tons of money and ruin HSAs.

The reason that Evolution Benefits did so is that they have a patented system that rejects unauthorized purchases for Flexible Spending Accounts (far inferior cousins of HSAs) and they have argued that HSA owners are making lots of unauthorized purchases with their cards which don't require substantiation. Account holders already must hold onto receipts in case they are audited and already must file with the IRS to show where their HSA dollars are being spent.

So, it comes as no surprise that some greedy businessmen are trying to get the government to shove more regulation down our throats so they can make a buck. Please call your congressperson and ask him or her to vote no on 5719! If you don't know who your congressperson is, shame on you, first of all, but you may find out at http://whoismyrepresentative.com/. Isn't the internet great? Also, feel free to call Evolution Benefits at 860-678-3400/5560 and tell them to go to hell.

I've also just learned that the White House might actually veto something if this passes the House. You may call the White House Comment Line at 202-456-1111 and ask that President Bush support the health of HSAs and does indeed veto it, should it pass.

What a great country.

State of the HSA

The President's big (mis)speech is tonight. Listen for his proposals for health insurance reform.

From Reuters -

"The president is proposing tax deductions -- $15,000 for a family and $7,500 for an individual whether or not they purchase their own health coverage or get it from their job -- to help buy insurance."

The END of employer-sponsored health insurance..?

Sneaky Sneaky

The bill I mentioned last week was passed over the weekend with provisions that relaxed restrictions on HSAs. So, we will now be able to contribute up to the maximum amount each year, even if our deductibles don't equal that amount. This article in the Washington Post has a good explanation of the legislation, though the contribution limits for 2007 are misstated. Read my last post below to see those.

HSA Legislation

Some HSA enhancements have passed in the House, and are on their way to the Senate. An important change proposed would be ignoring the deductible as it concerns contribution limits. So, even if you only had a $1,200 deductible (which would presently allow you to contribute only $1,200 to your HSA for the year), you would be able to contribute the maximum $2,850 to your HSA under the new rules. Let's keep our fingers crossed...

businessinsurance.com