This morning I did something that won’t be possible come January. I paid for a generic over-the-counter medication with my Health Savings Account (HSA), thereby saving the Health Care System a lot of money. My purchase of 150 caplets cost just $2.89 of my pre-tax income (plus sales tax of 7.75%), on sale from $10.39.
In numerous similar small ways, my family’s high-deductible policy and health savings account have changed our approach to health care. Unless the recently enacted federal law is repealed, however, this method of saving money without impinging on care will all but disappear in the next few years. In exchange, North Carolina and other states will have to find a way to pay 10 percent of the cost to cover another 500,000 Medicaid recipients as it struggles to pay for the promised services for those currently eligible.
Oh, for real reform.
