Health Savings Accounts May Fill the Gap

The price of health care is a conundrum full of many interconnected
pieces. Some of those seeking a way to lower the cost of health care
think that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) will offer participants the freedom to find the best health service price. JLF recently released a health care policy report by Michael DeBow, a law professor at Samford University and Professor of Health Care Organization & Policy at
the University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Public Health. In “Health Savings Accounts: Consumer-Driven Health Care for North Carolina Public Employees and Teachers”, DeBow reveals the benefits of switching current state employees to
HSAs. DeBow talked about his findings with WNCT radio with host Henry Hinton. The Economic Policy
Institute (EPI) reported
that employer-provided health coverage dropped drastically in
N.C.  This drop, they argued, is reason for an increase in
government-provided health care. Building upon DeBow’s work, JLF’s
health and human services policy analyst Nancy Winter countered in the N&O, stating that many employees choose individual accounts because its less expensive and provides the employee more control over his or her medical expenses.