I'm excited to announce that I have also just released a Spanish version of my HSA guide — Manual de sentido común Cuentas de Ahorros para la Salud — which is intended to help individuals and families for whom Spanish is their primary language to better understand Health Savings Accounts, how the HSA-qualified health plans that make people eligible for Health Savings Accounts compare to traditional health insurance, and how to determine whether a Health Savings Account is right for them.  The guide is a direct translation of my updated version in English, The Common Sense Guide to HSAs, released recently.  This guide should help Spanish-speaking family members and relatives feel more comfortable with the terminology and issues as well as advantages that HSAs present.

You may download a copy of the Spanish language guide for a fee at http://hsaed.com/ my website devoted to educating consumers about Health Savings Accounts.  The English version is also available for free on this site. http://hsaed.com/hsa_guide_book

You may also be interested in signing up for a one hour HSA webinar I will be hosting on Wednesday, June 25th at 12:00 noon ET (11:00 am CT, 10:00 am MT, 9:00 am PT) to explain the new IRS guidance on IRA-to-HSA rollovers and account funding issues.  The webinar will provide an opportunity for Q&A as well.
 
The cost of the webinar will be $35.  To sign up visit HSAed.com For those that attend the webinar, the Spanish version of my guide book will be sent to you free of charge.

You can fill the gap once, but only once. See details here from the Life and Health Insurance News.

Last week, Pete Stark chaired a Bash-Health-Savings-Accounts hearing.  In a nod toward balance, the committee agreed to hear from one (and only one) witness who had any real world experience with actual HSAs.  Jim Frogue from the Center for Health Transformation reports as a comment.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and House Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) chose to release a report they requested from the General Accountability Office on the same day as the AHIP survey was released, even though the report was delivered to the Chairmen on April 1.  The Chairmen's press release, seeking to throw cold water on the otherwise solid numbers from AHIP, says the report shows that HSAs are used more often as a tax shelter by wealthy individuals rather than as a mechanism to help working families obtain needed health care. Continue reading »

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) just released its 4^th annual survey of Health Savings Account plans.  As of January, 2008, more than 6.1 million Americans are covered by Health Savings Account (HSA) insurance plans, a 35 percent increase over last year and almost double the number in 2006. Continue reading »

See Roy Ramthun summary and comments by Uwe Reinhardt and me.

An update by Roy Ramthun on the House Ways and Means assault on HSAs is attached as a comment.  Joint Tax Committee says the new rule change will have a big impact on CDHC plans.  Refuses to say why.  Members voted on the new rules without knowing what difference they would make. Other comments also attached.

[This article is a continuation of the previous FYI: A Bad HSA Idea]