Posted by gardenergirl on August 5, 2007, at 21:01:16
I don't understand how the candidates think that tax breaks and health savings accounts (HSA's) would significantly reduce the number of the 45 million uninsured in the US.
How exactly would reducing the taxes for a family living at or below the poverty level help them pay for health care? They don't pay taxes as it is, because their income is too low! And if when filing their taxes, the bottom line comes to a negative number as it would with a health care tax credit, they don't get that money as a refund. So from what I can see, they gain nothing.
The proposal of increasing HSAs is the same. Where exactly would a family with income at or below the poverty level find the money to put in a HSA? Already there are folks who have to choose between eating and paying for meds or medical care. Are the Republicans proposing giving them the money to put in? No. So how would this help? I'd really like to ask them to explain it to me so that I understand the logic, because I can't figure it out. And I'm a reasonably intelligent person.
Even my husband and I have to decide how much cash flow to "give up" during the year in order to take advantage of a tax savings from our HSA when we file our taxes. Frankly, we're not able to put enough in our HSA to cover all of our medical expenses since we each have chronic illnesses.
I know this is not a simple issue, but it's the system that's broken, not the poor. I wish somebody would focus on fixing the system.
Please, can anyone explain how this would work?
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:774192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20070708/msgs/774192.html