78R7203 EAM-D


By:  Eissler                                                    H.C.R. No. 90 



HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) offer an innovative 
alternative to high-premium insurance policies by combining 
tax-free savings accounts and high-deductible catastrophic health 
insurance plans; and
	WHEREAS, Individuals choosing to use these accounts can pay 
for routine and minor medical services with funds set aside in a 
tax-free savings account, while major health care costs are covered 
by their high-deductible health insurance plans; and
	WHEREAS, Tax-free MSAs encourage individuals to make wise and 
economical decisions about their health care because managing their 
own accounts often makes them more aware of the true costs of health 
care; MSAs also offer participants greater access to medical 
services and the freedom to choose their own health care providers; 
and
	WHEREAS, A survey of MSA plan participants shows that 
employers offering MSAs to their employees have been able to reduce 
health insurance expenses by up to 40 percent; in contrast, 
employers overall have recently experienced an average 16 percent 
increase in health insurance premiums, with some small employers 
confronting increases of 40 to 50 percent; and
	WHEREAS, The federal MSA pilot program, which was designed 
for small employer groups and the self-employed, carries 
restrictions that may discourage participation in the program and 
create confusion among potential applicants, employers, and 
insurance providers; and
	WHEREAS, The federal MSA pilot program limits annual 
deductibles for participating employees to not less than $1,700 or 
more than $2,500 for an individual and not less than $3,500 or more 
than $6,150 for a family; annual out-of-pocket expenses under the 
plan cannot exceed $3,350 for individual coverage and $6,150 for 
family coverage; and annual limits for account contributions are 65 
percent of the deductible for an individual account and 75 percent 
of the deductible for a family account; and
	WHEREAS, According to 1996 data, about 85 percent of 
Americans incurred medical expenses, with an average per-person 
expenditure of about $2,400, an amount well within the range limits 
of the MSA annual contribution for an individual account; even more 
significant is the fact that about half of those persons who 
incurred medical expenses had expenses of less than $560; and
	WHEREAS, Any unspent MSA funds for a given year may be rolled 
over to the following year; after age 65, unspent funds can be 
rolled over to an Individual Retirement Account or withdrawn 
without penalty for any use and taxed as ordinary income; and
	WHEREAS, Expanding the availability of MSAs to other 
employers, increasing the account contribution limits, and 
lowering the limits on annual deductibles for participating 
employees would encourage greater participation among consumers, 
employers, and insurance providers; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully request the Congress of the United States to 
broaden the scope and availability of the medical savings account 
program, remove its restrictions, and allow state governments to 
design such programs for their employees; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.