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HSA Council: Government Relations
Council Membership | HSA GR Issues | Newsletter | Press Room | Resources
Current Events:
- As of October 29, 2009, the House released information on their health care reform bill: H.R. 3962, America's Affordable Health Choices Act. It was prepared by the Committees on Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Education & Labor. The following links provide detailed information on and summary of this Bill. Detailed Summary of the Act, Section-by-Section Analysis, Implementation Timeline, List of the Major Changes Between this Act and the Original H.R. 3200, List of Provisions that can go into Immediate Effect.
- Spreadsheet of amendments offered through September 25, 2009 in the Senate FInance Committee.
- Senate Finance Committee's America's Healthy Future Act of 2009. This was released on September 16, 2009. It has several provisions that affect HSAs. Please see pages 18, 204 and 205.
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed their version of H.R. 3200, without the amendment that would protect HSAs. Please follow this link for additional information and instructions on how to contact your Senators and Representative.
- Sample letter to send to HSA owners in order to encourage them to take action in order to protect HSAs.
- Read a July 16, 2009 Letter from the HSA Council and sent to members of the Energy and Commerce Committee in support of an amendment to H.R. 3200 that would protect the interest of the millions of account holders.
- A Chart by the Heritage Foundation that provides a breakdown of income tax rates by state if Obama's proposed 5.4% surtax is passed and compares those rates to the rates in other developed countries.
- Read a July 9, 2009 Letter from the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition to House leadership that outlines the Blue Dogs' concerns regarding health care reform.
- A Chart released by the US Chamber of Commerce that demonstrates the complex nature of the regulations associated with the Senate HELP Committee's Affordable Health Choices Act.
- Two legislative proposals, backed by the HSA Council, that would establish a Medicare HSA and a Medicaid/SCHIP HSA.
- Sample Letter that account administrators can encourage their small business clients to send to members of Congress in response to the proposals from the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee.
- HSA Council's Response to the Senate Finance Committee's "Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options."
- S. 3626, originally introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in the 110 Congress. It would improve access to HSAs by expanding their availability and improving upon existing provisions.
- S. 173 originally introduced by Senators Inhofe (R-OK) and DeMint (R-SC) in the 110 Congress. It would establish Medicare HSAs.
If you have any questions or would like to comment on recent developments regarding HSAs, please contact Kevin McKechnie or Renee Galbraith.
Prior Events:
- In 2008 the HSA Council defended HSAs in response to H.R. 5719, the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act of 2008, which would have established "substantiation" protocols for HSAs. Read a Summary of the Proposed Regulation Read the Statement from the HSA Council. Read a Letter to the House Leadership from Kevin McKechnie .
- The State Children's Health Insurance bill includes provisions which would limit the use of HSAs in premium assistance plans and would prohibit further use of Health Opportunity Accounts, a type of Medicaid HSA. Read a fact sheet. Read a letter requesting these provisions be modified.
- Promoting Health For Future Generations Act of 2007: H.R. 2639 was introduced in June, 2007. It includes a number of technical and broad expansion provisions which would make HSAs accessible to more citizens. Read the summary.
- The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 was passed by the Senate on the last day of the lame duck session. It made some technical fixes to HSAs based on bank, employer, and participant experience. Two of the provisions were highly requested by ABA's HSA Council. One provision was included that repeals the annual deductible limitation on HSAs. Another provision removes the 1/12th rule for contributions. Here is a summary and a technical explanation of all the provisions. Here is a commented chart of the provisions prepared by Davis & Harman LLP.
- Health Opportunity Patient Empowerment Act of 2006: This bill was introduced in September of 2006 to bring together provisions from Representatives Cantor's and Ryan's bills as well as the concepts that Chairman Thomas of Ways & Means wanted to address. Here is a summary of the bill. The HSA Council Letter expresses support for all provisions, especially the provision that allows full funding of the HSA no matter when the participant began in the plan. See the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate for budget impact information.
- Medicare Modernization Act, Public Law 108-173: This is the law that allowed the formation of qualified high-deductible insurance policies and Health Savings Accounts. Here is a pdf of the section pertaining to HSA's in Title XII. >Bills from the 109th Congress (2005-2006) CMS presented a Fact Sheet on Medicare MSAs at the March NAIC meeting including information about providers and the differences between the old MSA and the new Demonstration MSA which behaves more like an HSA.
- FSA/HRA Rollover Guidance, Notice 2007-22. Treasury released guidance on FSA/HRA rollovers February 15, 2007. This guidance was the first to interpret the new provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006. Here is an explanation of the guidance prepared by Davis & Harman LLP.
- ERISA Treatment of HSAs: Field Assistance Bulletin 2006-02 has FAQs that were a response to Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-1, which describes the circumstances under which HSAs are considered outside of Title I of ERISA. For further information on ERISA treatment of HSAs, please contact Lisa Bleier, Senior Counsel, ABA Center for Regulatory and Trust Affairs. The bulletin arrives at the conclusion that, because accounts belong to and are controlled by employees, they do not fall under ERISA. This can also be found at the DOL website.
- SEC Proposed Regulation B: This was proposed by the SEC to implement Title II of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 PL 106-102. Regulation B as written may affect the ability of HSA account owners to invest their funds at the institution of their choice. Read our talking points to understand how Reg B could affect HSA product offerings.
- FDIC Deposit Insurance(4-28-04): Questions have arisen about how FDIC insurance will work with HSA's. Here is the response from the FDIC. In short, HSA's are trusts, and are covered under trust regulation.
State Issues:
Federal law created the federal tax deduction for HSA's but each state is free to determine how they want to handle taxation. Here are a number of resources for information on state treatment of HSAs.
 The HSA Council is a partnership of the American Bankers Association and its insurance affiliate, the American Bankers Insurance Association
Questions? Please contact Renee Galbraith for more information.
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