Bill With HSA Provisions Heads To White House

Rep. William Thomas, R-Calif., outgoing chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, put the HSA provisions in the bill as one of his last acts before ceding control of the Congress to the Democrats.

Employers, health insurers and brokers, and banks all lobbied hard for the bill, fully aware that Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., Ways and Means chairman-designate, and Pete Stark, D-Calif., chairman-designate of the committee's health subcommittee, are opposed to HSAs and may be unlikely to pass bills offering improvements to them.

John Greene, vice president of congressional affairs at the National Association of Health Underwriters, Arlington, Va., says the H.R. 6111 provisions adjusting HSA accounts "will make administration of HSAs easier for employers and consumers alike."

"The ultimate beneficiaries of these amendments are the consumers covered by [high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts," says Alycia Kiley, director of government affairs at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Washington.

Although the CIAB "is supportive of all of the provisions included the bill, brokers are primarily thankful for the consideration of the mid-year enrollment issue," Kiley says. "This has been a lobbying priority for both council members and their employer clients for the past 2 years."

The HRA-to-HSA will be a big help to employees, because HSA are far more portable than HRA assets, Kiley says.

A copy of the House amendment to H.R. 6111 that includes the HSA provisions is on the House Rules Committee Web site, at Document Link