The HSA Option

by Brian Blase, et al | Originally posted on Paragon Health Institute

Allowing Low-Income Americans to Use a Portion of Their ACA Subsidy as a Health Savings Account Contribution

Brian and colleagues explain in this new Paragon paper an “HSA Option” to allow lower-income Americans enrolled in ACA exchanges another way to access their subsidy. Instead of having all of the money sent to insurance companies, they could have a portion deposited into a health savings account they own. That would mean enrollees with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level could have access to thousands of dollars in their HSAs, giving them more control over their health spending to pay out-of-network costs and expenses like vision, dental, and hearing care. Brian, with coauthors Dean Clancy, Andrew Lautz, and Roy Ramthun, explain that the HSA option also will improve competition and lower costs market wide.