Chamber Urges Senators to Strengthen HSA Plans

WASHINGTON, DC-Joe Knight, Chief Financial Officer and co-owner of Setpoint Companies, a small manufacturing firm, testified today on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care regarding the importance of strengthening Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for small and medium-sized businesses.

"As a small business owner, in order to recruit and keep the types of employees we need, we have to keep all of our benefits competitive, which is why we need tools such as HSAs," said Knight. "I urge Congress to expand and improve this important program to make it stronger."

According to Knight and the Chamber, giving individuals more direct control over their health care dollars will encourage more prudent use of health care services, will help make the health care system more responsive to consumers' needs and will improve access to health coverage for the uninsured. Health Savings Accounts represent the most positive health care legislation for small businesses in 20 years.

There are several technical corrections currently contemplated in multiple pieces of legislation both in the House and the Senate that would improve the take up rate of HSAs and make them more user-friendly. The Chamber has strongly advocated for a broad range of potential improvements to HSAs to make them more attractive and useful for both consumers and employers such as: increasing the amounts individuals and employers may contribute to HSAs; allowing employees with HSAs to also participate in other tax-favored health care accounts such as health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs); and permitting individuals over age 65 who are still working to continue to contribute to their HSAs.

"Without the option of HSAs, the costs associated with one or two sick employees could wipe out a business," said Knight. "After modeling single and family medical needs and considering several different scenarios, I found that the HSA option was far better financially for my people, even for my employees with medical situations."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

The testimony can be viewed here.

www.uschamber.com

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