Health Savings Account-Health Savings Account Info

suthrnlyts asked:


Bending the Health-Care Cost Curve—Upward

Exerpts:

President Obama has repeatedly promised that health reform would lower costs, yet independent observers, from the CBO to Richard Foster, the chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have repeatedly said just the opposite. What gives?

The Dutch are shifting from a command-and-control system to one in which insurers compete and prices for hospital care are allowed to fluctuate, driving innovation. Closer to home, in Indiana, nearly 50 percent of state employees have Health Savings Accounts—saving taxpayers $42 million to date. Companies like Safeway and Whole Foods have created insurance plans that reward healthy behavior and lower health-care costs.

Neither Congress nor the president seems to be paying much attention. But until every American gets control of his or her own portable, affordable, private health insurance—until, that is, a true market exists in health care—costs will continue to spiral upward. And voters will get more of the same, packaged as hope and change.

http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon1118ph.html

Remember when President Obama said that the goal of health-care reform was to save money? Will that goal be reached? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Roosevelt Shands

ninja bunny asked:


My husband and I are separated. He is engaged. When he left, he took all of our joint property, emptied our joint bank account, and took his name off of all our utilities, leaving me with all of the debt. My employer provided insurance is currently in open enrollment. Can I drop him from my policy? He works, and makes more money than I do. I would continue to cover his child (from a previous relationship) until the divorce. I recently found out from his fiance’ that he plans on delaying our divorce as long as possible, to maintain my insurance, and that the insurance was the only reason he married me in the first place. The increase in premium to keep him on my insurance is 200 a month. Also, I have a very high deductible. $5,000. I have a health savings account through my employer. Can he access that?

I’m not being petty. I’m doing what is best for me, and my two children (also from a previous relationship). I make half as much money as he does, and he stuck me with all of the household bills, as well as some of his medical bills from early this year. (I’ve since given those creditors his address, so they can go after him for that.) I don’t think I should have to bear all the financial weight for this relationship, when I was being used… I also plan to bring this up, as fraud, in our divorce.
We were only married for 8 months, if that has anything to do with it… and he had no medicaid before that, and he found out he made too much money, and was being dropped from medicaid.
He had no insurance… not no medicaid. He was on medicaid when we married. That was a typo.

Omega Nellis

banjo asked:


Existing Law:
Two rainy day accounts for the Education Trust Fund, used to prevent proration, or across-the-board budget cuts: the Proration Prevention Account, which works like a savings account, and the Rainy Day Account, which acts like a credit line. The Proration Prevention Account is funded with tax revenues; the Rainy Day Account gives the state the power to borrow money from the $3.2 billion Trust Fund, funded by the sales of drilling rights and oil and gas leases. The state emptied the $440 million Proration Prevention Account to cover revenue shortfalls in the fiscal 2008 budget. The state can currently borrow up to $248 million from the Trust Fund to cover Education Trust Fund shortfalls. The money must be repaid within five years.

Amendment:
Increase the borrowing limit from $248 million to $437 million
Lengthen repayment to six years for the Education Trust Fund, ten years for the General Fund, both under constitutional mandate
Allow the General Fund to draw up to the equivalent of 10 percent of the previous year’s General Fund budget to meet proration
Establish a General Fund Rainy Day Account to protect General Fund services, such as law enforcement, health care, child protective services, and services for seniors from cuts in a struggling economy, without raising taxes.
Give the governor ultimate authority to withdraw money from the Trust Fund to avoid proration.

Arguments in Favor:
The measure will prevent cuts to educational programs and public education in general
The measure will prevent cuts to state services which would likely lead to less State Troopers

Arguments in Opposition
The measure would encourage irresponsible budgets
The measure would draw down the money in the Trust Fund
The measure would reduce interest payments from that fund to governments across the state
The measure would break the commitment to protect public money

Thanks for answering, wish Y/A would let me give you all points!

Luigi Malnar

Bo D asked:


I had a health emergency that wiped out nearly 10,000 dollars in my checking account, and my savings account is empty.

My checking account is down to 500 dollars, and my landlord is about to cash my rent check to him for 750 in a day or two, and I don’t get paid until Friday, meaning it will overdraft my account.

I do however, have a credit card with nothing on it and a 5,000 balance.

Is there a way to use my credit card, to transfer money from that credit line, into my checking account so my rent-check doesn’t put me into overdraft?

I’ll have a 2,000 deposit by Friday, but for the next couple days, that’s the only way I can think to avoid calling my landlord and advertising to him I’m flat broke.

Can transferring money from a credit card line into a checking account be done?

Kristina Rarogal

Art asked:


You talk about reducing premiums? Its very affordable and the money you dont use, a person gets to keep it.You talk about driving down costs?Is this too sensible or am i losing my mind?

Frances

junkfood1 asked:


I have a checking account, savings, vaction, should I open a savings account for auto. It would be for car parts. Im makeing 8.75 and live at home so I want to save as much money. How much should I put away a month for my auto. My car repairs are like 400 to 500 dollars.

My bills are

rent 200
health insurance 67.00 each pay check
gas 1-100
retail 50-75
vacation fund 60 a month.

Skye Chesbro

I spy on Russia asked:


Tax credit of up to $2,000 per family to help low-income working Americans buy health insurance. Expand tax-free medical savings accounts that can be used to pay for health expenses. Add 1,300 rural health care centers.

Money to states to provide free prescription drugs for the elderly poor while setting up program over four years to subsidize choice in drug plans for other Medicare beneficiaries

http://quest.cjonline.com/stories/110500/gen_1105006587.shtml

Josiah Padget

Kristin asked:


I have like three years of copies of old statements from utility bills, credit card bills, health insurance, car insurance, checking/savings accounts, pay stubs, etc. Also, I have a couple of statements from closed out credit cards, vehicles that we have sold. I was just wondering how long I should keep these things for? Years, Months, Weeks..? Thanks for the help!

Logan Lefrancois

What the fu– asked:


We have BCBS with a health savings account which we pay $200 a month for though my husband’s small massage school. Cheap right? Not so much when the employer doesn’t contribute to the HSA and we just can’t afford to. For that reason, I haven’t gotten my annual PAP or mammagram which I’m overdue for. Just going for a regular check up leaves us with an almost $100 bill. With Obama’s plan would we be able to quit that insurance and pick up something affordable?

Reed Patria

jadoescher asked:


Hey,

I am a 28 year old single male. I make $36,500 per year at my job and I get $12,000 per year (tax free) from my grandmother. My total take home income per month is $3150. I put 5% pre tax into my 401k (which my employer matches) and I put $20 per month in a health saving account (used to put about 80 in there, but I racked up enough to cover my deductible and I haven’t hardly used any of it).

My rent is $1040 per month, I don’t have any car payments or student loan payments. I do not have a specific savings goal but I want to make sure I am saving enough but not overdoing it. How much should I put in my savings account each month?

Thanks!

Hank Lombard