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HSA deposits near $1 billion
March 9, 2006
Americans have stashed a sizable amount of cash in health savings accounts, according to a recent study of 60 financial and health institutions by the newsletter Inside Consumer-Directed Care. Users have deposited almost $1 billion in HSAs since they were established three years ago, the study finds.
More than 820,000 accounts have been opened across the nation and about 60 new accounts are being added each month. The average amount in each account is $1,181, the study shows.
Observers expect heated competition for HSA deposits among banks, credit unions and other financial organizations as the balances continue to grow. The number of HSA administrators or custodians could grow from 300 to 400 by the end of this year, the study indicates. In fact, the BlueCross BlueShield Association plans to launch its own Blue Healthcare Bank early next year.
More HSA NEWS:
What you need to know about health savings accounts (HSAs):
PLUSES
• Tax-free accounts could accumulate money over several years and turn into a sizable healthcare nest egg for healthy people with low medical expenses.
• The consumer is more likely to question healthcare expenses that currently do not get much scrutiny.
• High-deductible policies that must be linked with HSAs tend to be cheaper.
• May be attractive to young, healthy people who currently are uninsured.
• With incentives, they could drive down the cost of insurance for small-business employees.
MINUSES
• Low-income people don't have as much money to salt away as the well-to-do and often cannot afford the high out-of-pocket costs.
• Could cause some to delay or deny themselves needed care in order to economize.
• Chronically ill people would spend accounts each year and would face high deductibles.
• Could make healthcare for older, sicker people more expensive as young, healthier people abandon the risk pool.
• Could move consumers away from the employer-based insurance model and into individual insurance. But the individual insurance market does not cover people who are sick and is less well-regulated.
• Shopping for healthcare is difficult when little good information exists that can support comparison shopping.
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Workers Comp News
Michael Jackson's ranch employees told to stay home, after workers' comp lapses
(CNN) -- State officials have fined Michael Jackson nearly $170,000 and ordered employees at the pop star's Neverland Ranch to stop working, after finding that employees had not been paid since December and the ranch's workers' compensation coverage had been allowed to lapse.
Thursday, the California Department of Industrial Relations slapped a "stop order" on Neverland, which prohibits employees from going back to work until workers' compensation coverage is restored. It also fined Jackson $69,000 for the lapse.
Tuesday, the same agency sent a letter demanding that Jackson pay employees at least $306,000 in back wages by next week, as well as a fine of more than $100,000 for failing to pay wages.
If the back wages and penalties aren't paid by March 14, the department "will pursue appropriate legal action," the letter said. Jackson has not been living at Neverland in recent months.
Shortly after he was acquitted on child molestation charges in June, he relocated to Bahrain, a small nation in the Persian Gulf. (posted 2:10 a.m.)
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