Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., introduced legislation (HR 5262) that would provide tax incentives on premium payments and contributions for high-deductible health savings accounts (HSAs), including a tax credit of up to $3,000 for purchases by low-income families. The Tax-Free Health Savings Act, which Cantor introduced at a news conference with Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, aims to make HSAs more attractive to consumers by providing income-tax credits on premiums and contributions, as well as by making premiums for HSA-compatible insurance tax deductible. Read more »
A battle is brewing on the board of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) over legislation the Senate is scheduled to consider May 9 that would permit small businesses to bypass state insurance mandates. While AHIP officially has taken no position on the bill (S 1955), its president Karen Ignagni has been pushing members who oppose the measure to find a way to support it in order to curry favor with Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., the bill's sponsor. So say AHIP members who also are members of the Coalition to Protect Access to Affordable Health Insurance, a group of regional community-based plans that opposes Enzi's measure. Read more »
Eighty-four percent of Americans believe hospitals, doctors, and pharmacies should publish prices on all goods and services, according to a poll released by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, a group that favors market-oriented solutions to health care. In addition, the poll, conducted by Zogby International, finds that 79 percent of respondents said they would likely use that data to shop around for the best price, with 51 percent responding they would be "very likely" to shop around and 28 percent saying they would be "somewhat likely" to shop around. Read more »
BlueCross BlueShield local health plan leaders made the case for health insurers to establish uniform portable health databases to ease the burden on doctors and patients. The meeting held in Washington was the first in a series the association will hold on the topic as lawmakers consider legislation to integrate health information technology nationwide. "It's really just an extension of what we already do," said Mary Nell Lehnhard, the association's senior vice president of policy and representation. "It's really the best chance for wide-scale and quick adoption because consumers don't have to do very much." Read more »
Congress could improve the dire financial outlook for Medicare portrayed by the program's trustees Monday by enacting cuts proposed earlier this year by the Bush administration, the head of the Medicare program said. Those cuts along with higher Part B premiums for affluent beneficiaries and payment incentives to improve quality and efficiency would lessen the need for harsher measures later, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mark B. McClellan told a forum sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute. Read more »
In a speech that otherwise broke little ground in his campaign to make consumers more responsive to the price of health care, President Bush told hospitals Medicare will start posting price data on the Internet June 1. Although he repeated the administration's pitch to hospitals to make price data available to the public as a way to avoid federal legislation requiring "transparency," Bush used the speech, delivered to the American Hospital Association (AHA), more as an opportunity to urge Congress to adopt a familiar mix of proposals he said would make health care affordable. AHA responded by issuing a new policy on transparency that drew Bush's thanks. Read more »