Although last week’s events constituted a sunbeam poking through the grayest of clouds, the Obamacare storm still bears watching carefully — and it’s worth underlining how much damage the storm could do to consumer-driven health care.
It was already well-understood that both the Senate and House bills would destroy most plans built around health-savings accounts, but a new piece in Health Care News points out that Harry Reid’s handiwork would also have imposed severe limitations on the flexible-spending accounts used by many millions of Americans to pay for routine expenses with before-tax dollars:
Reid’s health care plan will also significantly change flexible spending accounts, which many Americans have with through their employers and use primarily for elective health care needs. Reid proposes capping the maximum amount Americans can deposit at $2,500 per year and restricting what flex spending dollars can be used to purchase.