The committee passed both the Bipartisan HSA Improvement Act of 2023 and the HSA Modernization Act of 2023 with the primary goal of expanding eligibility and enhancing the functionality of HSAs
The ground-breaking health savings account (HSA) legislation was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on September 28, 2023. Both House Resolutions 5688 and 5687 have similar objectives, which are to increase the number of people who are eligible for health savings accounts (HSAs) and to remove administrative impediments that have kept HSAs from realizing their full potential.
According to the statements made by Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), our committee has placed a high priority on lowering the costs of medical care while simultaneously expanding coverage in order to provide additional assistance to working families. In addition to allowing people to save an amount that will actually cover what they might owe in out-of-pocket expenses, making direct primary care arrangements and worksite clinics eligible, and repealing the marriage penalty, which prevents married couples from combining their HSA contributions into a single account, bills like these reflect basic common sense by allowing people to save an amount that will actually cover what they might owe in out-of-pocket expenses.
The possibility to move flexible spending into an HSA is an important element, as is the increase of HSA eligibility to include veterans, seniors on Medicare, and Native Americans. These groups were previously ineligible for HSAs. The Health Savings Account Modernization Act adjusts contribution restrictions to reflect anticipated out-of-pocket expenses and provides coverage of medical expenses spent up to 60 days prior to the establishment of an HSA. Other provisions of the Act address prospective out-of-pocket expenses.
Josselin Castillo, Manager of Federal Government Relations for the NFIB, highlighted the significance of these changes by stating, "Rising health insurance costs is a top worry for small business owners." If HSAs were more widely available and primary care was easier to get to, both employees and their employers would gain from more agency in the decision-making process pertaining to healthcare. We are grateful for the committee's efforts to alter the system so that healthcare can be more easily accessed by companies that are quite modest.
