Health
care is fundamental for leading a healthy lifestyle, and consumers rely on
health care benefits for most medical issues. Rising health care costs, in
addition to other health care issues, are growing concerns and are the stimulus
for the transformation our country’s health care system is currently
undergoing. Here is insight on some of the issues, several proposed changes,
and ways you may be affected:
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The cost of health plans is rising, which means health care costs may be
increasing for employers. If you have health insurance through your employer,
you may experience an increase in your out-of-pocket health care costs if the
increased cost is passed on. To lessen the impact of increased costs, more
employers are providing wellness incentives such as subsidized gym memberships
and discounts on premiums if employees demonstrate a healthy lifestyle.
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Changes may be made to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). Currently, you get a
tax break for money contributed to an FSA. The amount you may contribute is
unlimited, but your employer may set a limit. The money may be used for
health-related expenses that insurance doesn’t cover in addition to dependent
care expenses. A proposed change may impose a limit on the amount of money
contributed or eliminate the FSA altogether.
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Health Savings Accounts (HSA) may be modified so that if you have a
high-deductible health insurance policy, you may set up an HSA that you and
your employer may contribute money to tax-free. Earnings on those contributions
are tax-free, in addition to withdrawals used for approved medical expenses.
There may be a limit enforced on the amount of money that may be contributed to
an HAS.
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Currently, employees do not pay income or payroll taxes on the value of health
benefits provided by their employers. The tax break will most likely not be
eliminated but stands a good chance of being capped. Other taxes may increase
for certain individuals with the objective being to help contribute to
reformation. For instance, there is a proposal that would limit the value of
itemized tax deductions for taxpayers who earn more than $250,000 a year. Other
options include higher federal excise taxes on beer, wine, and distilled
spirits as well as sugar-sweetened beverages.
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The use of health care technology will provide more access to consumers without
raising costs. Our government has set a five year deadline for all Americans to
have electronic medical records with adequate safeguards to protect consumers,
which will save a significant amount of money by cutting waste and eliminating
repeated tests and errors.
Revamping our country’s health care system is a major undertaking, and the
reform is expected to be finalized this year.
