Obamacare’s Cruel War On Patient-Centered Healthcare

 

 

 

 

” In just a few weeks, when the calendar flips to 2013, millions of Americans will get their first taste of Obamacare — a $2,500 cap on their flexible spending accounts.

That’s down from the previous $5,000 cap — and thus equivalent to a tax hike for any family that had been putting more into their FSAs to cover out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. But it’s also emblematic of a more troubling problem with Obamacare — its undeclared war on consumer-directed health care.

To cope with runaway health costs, businesses have been increasingly experimenting with health plans that put patients in the driver’s seat — giving them more control over their care while making them more aware of the cost of the care they consume.

FSAs aren’t the only example of this consumer-directed trend. Consider the explosive growth of health saving accounts.

In combination with a high-deductible insurance policy, these tax-free savings vehicles allow patients to save money for routine healthcare expenses — and to roll over tax-free to the next year. HSA-style plans barely existed in 2005; today one in five workers is enrolled in one, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. ”