Washington, D.C.–House Ways and Means Committee member, Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (Utah) today introduced the Health Savings Act of 2016, legislation to simplify and expand Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), health care accounts that provide Americans opportunities to save for medical costs through tax-deductible contributions.

“Health Savings and Flexible Spending Accounts give hard-working Americans more choice and control when it comes to their health care decisions” said Paulsen. “Expanding and simplifying these plans will provide families with even greater flexibility to save and pay for medical expenses.

“Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts were created to give Americans control over their personal health care spending,” Hatch said. “Enacted over a decade ago, these plans have grown in popularity despite needing critical updates to match our changing health care system. This legislation provides those much needed updates and simplifies these plans helping American families, workers, and retirees build tax-free savings for future medical costs.”

Today, health care costs in America are expected to rise by an average of 5.8 percent each year from now until 2024. HSAs and FSAs provide individuals with opportunities to put away tax free savings for everyday medical costs.  When Congress first made HSAs available, these plans only covered 454,000 lives. Today, 19.7 million individuals are covered under a health plan that is eligible for an HSA.

A section by section of the bill can be found here.

Text of the bill can be found here.                                                                                                    

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