Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA) Announces He Will Introduce Medicare HSAs with Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO)

From Rep. Bera’s (D-CA) statement before the Ways and Means Committee yesterday: “I have long been a proponent of HSAs to help families save for future medical expenses just as they do for retirement or college. I will be introducing this month, along with Committee Republican Rep. Jason Smith, legislation to allow Medicare beneficiaries to have an HSA. Those on Medicare often have significant out-of-pocket spending; a Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology study published in 2016 found that almost 10% of elderly patients with Medicare alone spent at least 60% of their annual household income on out-of-pocket health care expenses after they were diagnosed with cancer. Although we expect to have health concerns as we age, we usually can’t predict when. In addition to the many other health care reforms we should both be protecting and expanding, we should also continue to incentivize individuals to save in healthier times, and this should apply to those on Medicare.”