03-03-2005, 05:43 AM
I ain't no policy wonk, but alls I know is the stock market began its two and half year crash in March/April of 2000 and soon after there wasn't a technology company who was buying anything. That to me was the beginning of the downfall.
And "where does the money come from", for HSAs initially will be lowered taxes. Rather than taxing the money, consumers can put in an account and pay for healthcare. A secondary effect will be a lot more pricing power by patients, since they'll be directly paying for it rather than the healthcare provider (the "first dollar"), so people will actually be asking "how much does this cost? Do I really need this test? Is there a less expensive medicine? etc" Which will help control medical expenses, which have been growing at 10% a year because the current system has no real way to control prices.
And "where does the money come from", for HSAs initially will be lowered taxes. Rather than taxing the money, consumers can put in an account and pay for healthcare. A secondary effect will be a lot more pricing power by patients, since they'll be directly paying for it rather than the healthcare provider (the "first dollar"), so people will actually be asking "how much does this cost? Do I really need this test? Is there a less expensive medicine? etc" Which will help control medical expenses, which have been growing at 10% a year because the current system has no real way to control prices.