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In any case, the Social Security analogy doesn't apply to HSAs. Bottom line, I want universal, single-payer health insurance like every other Western industrial nation provides. We don't have that, we are stuck with a stupid private system that charges exorbitant premiums, and then adds insult to injury with high deductibles and high co-pays and restrictions on coverage.
That being the case, there is a certain attraction to putting your own tax-free money away for covering health care costs, rather than letting private insurance companies constantly bleed you by sucking high premiums out of your paycheck and then demanding high co-pays and deductibles on top of that.
The preferable solution would be government administrated universal coverage -- like social security. But that's not what we have. Until we do, HSAs *may* be a worthwhile stop-gap alternative for some people. Just because bush* has promoted them doesn't mean they might not work out to be economically more viable for some people than the current private health insurance rip-off system that we're being subjected to.
Personally, I really resent what I'm currently stuck with -- high premiums taken out of my paycheck every 2 weeks, and then high co-pays and deductibles on top of it. Not only does the health insurance company get plenty of my money automatically, should I actually need to USE it, I end up having to pay a bunch of extra money on top of what they've already taken. It really pisses me off.
As I posted above, it turned out that my deductible wasn't HIGH enough to qualify for an HSA. But if I had qualified, I would have much preferred to set aside my own money in a tax-free account rather than allowing a private health insurance company to just take my money paycheck after paycheck for a "benefit" I rarely use. Because if I DO have the misfortune of needing to use it, they just want even MORE money from me.
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