So why no support for the proposals that would repeal the limits (or extend them) on the amount of pre-tax income into health savings accounts?

It seems to me that it would be a good idea and a boon for people that have recurring or predictable healthcare costs to cover those costs with pre-tax dollars. It would actually represent a tax cut for most people letting them reduce their federal income tax liability and provide people the ability to provide for the costs of their own healthcare costs.

win-win for the American People..

why not?? Why is there no support for this idea amoung Democrats on the Hill and in the White House???

Obama promised a tax cut for the middle class. There it is. Take it and go.

the thundering silence vis-a-vis the lack of response here is indicant to me that the lack of support in congress for such a proposal lies specifically in the fact that it enhances individual liberties and denies the autocratic control over the lives of the American people that the current PublicOption/ObamaCare proposal guarantees..

thanks for confirming this for me!

because this still does not eliminate the State's role in health care. History shows that the State is always a corrupting influence. Ideally, the government has NO role in health care. (even better, the State should cease to exist, but that's another thread)

Not everyone could afford to save for the kind of costs out there for health care out of pocket like that.

I don't think people are sitting staring at the screen waiting for topics to be posted.. lol

why should that matter? most Americans can and to allow people to reduce their tax liability while saving towards paying for the care they need should be seen as two birds with one stone..

besides, wasn't it Lincoln who said "you can't please all the people all the time" ??

why should those who can afford to help themselves be restricted from doing so?? just so someone like you can sit back and say "We want to help everybody" ??

Life in America provides for equal opportunity, not equal outcome.. please get used to that.. Life isn't fair. Ups and downs..

But for all that, I think the more-to-the-point answer is that all these folks out there seem to think they're entitled to healthcare that someone else must pay for.. same way they've had lunches at public school paid for, same way they get their grocery bills paid for, same way they got that Zero-down home loan that they're now defaulted on, and on and on and on..

where does it end?

In theory it sounds good. However, if you have a health issue and are not able to work, what then? The assumption with this plan is that you can work. jmo

I don't think you understand how HSA's work. There is no way you could realistically fund your medical care from an HSA, especially if you are over 40 years old or develop a serious illness.

I think some folks just won't get the need until they DO get a serious illness that wipes out their savings even when they carry half way decent insurance. Sadly too many focus on everything but the reality that life is fragile. You can be on top of it all one minute and destitute the next, and if your fellow man doesn't give a crap about you, well.... guess that speaks volumes about your fellow man.

that's cool.. I understand it's not THE solution to the littany of problems that exist but...

no one has told me how it's a bad idea.

So it doesn't help everyone. It WILL help a good many people.. There are plenty of people out there who work and have kids (or other dependants, parents etc) with chronic illnesses out there and it would be a great help to them to be able to defray the costs of the ongoing care for a loved one, etc.

There are plenty of people out there that could benefit from extending the limits of contributions to the HSA's..

just that it can't help everyone doesn't mean that it should be condemned for all those it could help.

I agree with you that HSA's are a good idea but not the complete solution on health care. I think you can defer $3,000 annually to an HSA right now but not many people want to do even that. If the average US salary is $50k, that's over 5% of what people are making.

People don't want to save.

Also, if I remeber right, there are a lot of rules that apply to HSA's. Thay can only be used for medical expenses and if you die, the money does not go to a beneficiary...it goes to the fund.

So even if you saved $3,000 a year in an HSA, one serious hospitalization would still wipe you out. It would benefit to have one to pay your portion of a hospital bill if your employer provided insurance only paid 80%.

The #1 cause of people going bankrupt every year is paying medical bills.