Healthcare Issues #1 Obama Care

Many would consider President Obama's health care plan, also known as "Obama Care" a complete mess. One issue is the tax on HSAs or Health Savings Accounts.  One Problem is that ObamaCare raises taxes on HSAs and makes them less consumer friendly.  On January 1, 2011,  Over-the-counter drugs and other household health care items cannot be reimbursed tax-free from HSAs without a prescription.  This will increase taxes on American families by $5 billion.  Also,  Penalty for non-qualified withdrawals from HSAs increases from 10 percent to 20 percent.  There is no “hardship” exception.  This will increase taxes on American families by $1.4 billion.

Not only are taxes an issue with ObamaCare, but there are many regulatory concerns.  according to GOP.gov, "Under ObamaCare, health insurance plans are supposed to pay for at least 60 percent of the expected cost of covered benefits, on average (i.e., the “actuarial value”).  The actuarial value takes into account the benefit package, deductible, copayment, and coinsurance differences for each plan.  High-deductible plans typically have lower actuarial values than old-school health insurance plans or HMOs because they are not designed to pay for routine expenses.  However, some high-deductible plans are combined with a health savings account, which is intended to pay for routine medical care.  It is essential that HHS consider both the employer and employee annual HSA contributions when it sets the standards for determining whether these plans meet the minimum 60 percent actuarial value requirement.  Failure to include the annual contributions in the actuarial value or failure to include it properly could determine whether HSAs will survive under ObamaCare."  This explains that it all leads back to the HSA tax.  Basically, ObamaCare is costing too much for little benefits.