Florida Gov. Bush Participates in Pensacola Discussion on HSAs

Gov. Jeb Bush and Floridians for Health Care Choices hosted a town hall meeting recently to provide an opportunity for federal and state healthcare experts to educate employers and employees on the benefits of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). HSAs provide Florida’s residents with an option to save money for medical expenses tax-free.

“The interest in health savings accounts—from employers, employees and health insurers—demonstrates the potential this new healthcare option can have in beginning to transform our health insurance market,” the governor said. “Moving to a consumer driven market will help increase the quality of care and create cost savings by putting patients in charge of their health care dollars. Patients will make choices best suited to their medical and financial needs, creating an incentive for doctors and hospitals to offer the best service for the most reasonable prices. I thank all those who have helped in educating Floridians about HSAs.”

Gov. Bush was joined by Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Tom Gallagher who, along with Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, co-chaired the Governor’s Task Force on Affordable Healthcare Insurance.

“I applaud the governor’s push to make Florida a leader in offering small employers and their employees access to tax-advantaged health savings accounts. These accounts will help Floridians pay for out-of-pocket health costs with pre-tax dollars and empower them to make wise financial decisions about their medical care,” Gallagher said.

HSAs reportedly improve access to affordable health care while empowering consumers to invest in health care savings. HSAs consist of a high deductible health plan and a tax-free savings account.

Employee contributions to an HSA account belong to the employee, as does any potential employer contribution to the HSA. Dollars in the HSA account can be spent by the consumer—tax-free—on any eligible health care expense. Funds that are not used remain in the account and grow tax deferred.

After age 65, the funds can be used, without penalty, for anything—just like an IRA. The money and interest in the account is transferable between jobs and to different states.

In June, Gov. Bush signed HB 1629, the Affordable Healthcare for Floridians Act, which provides increased access to health care insurance by reportedly creating a more stable and competitive market, raises the quality of care and patient safety and improves transparency by giving consumers the information they need to make better health care choices.

Also joining Gov. Bush at the Pensacola meeting were Bill Sweetnam, benefits tax council, Office of Tax Policy, U.S. Department of Treasury; Alan Levine, secretary, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration; Lisa Miller, deputy director of insurance regulation, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation; Dennis Taylor, chair of health care committee, Pensacola Chamber of Commerce; and Laurel Call, vice president, Assurant Health.

Floridians for Health Care Choices, a coalition sponsored by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, The National Federation of Independent Business, the Florida Retail Federation and Florida’s leading insurers, in an effort to promote new and affordable health care options for employers and employees, are sponsoring town hall meetings throughout the state in a variety of cities during the year.