Single Page | 
Multiple Pages
Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > September 26, 2007
Citizen Action blasts HSA plans
Published September 26, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
A new report released today by a grassroots organization contends that state tax deductibility for health savings accounts (HSAs), the centerpiece of the Assembly Republican health care plan, is skewed to the benefit of the wealthy.
The Citizen Action of Wisconsin report, titled, "Unfair Advantage," estimates that 52 percent of the HSA tax deductions in the Assembly version of the budget will go to tax filers who make more than $100,000 per year, and that only 20 percent will go to individuals and families that are middle income or less.
Encouraging people to enroll in extremely high deductible health plans and set aside money in HSAs is the GOP's alternative to the health care reform proposals by Senate Democrats and Gov. Jim Doyle.
The Citizen Action report contends that the tax deduction itself is much too small to make health care more affordable. The small tax deduction that moderate or middle income individuals could receive if they save money in HSAs is dwarfed by the nearly $4,000 deductible that families will have to cover once they enroll in HSA eligible health insurance policies, according to the report.
"It's not fair, and it's not right that at a time when average citizens are asking the Legislature for meaningful action on the health care crisis, the Assembly Republicans are blocking real reform, and instead trying to dole out yet another tax break to the wealthy," said Linda Honold, executive director of Citizen Action.
The full report is available at http://citizenactionwi.org/images/stories/unfair_advantage_report.pdf.
Citizen Action has more than 85,000 individual members. The organization says 45 percent of its members describe themselves as Democrats, 35 percent are Republicans and 17 percent are independents.
