Thursday, January 18, 2007

California’s Small Businesses Get a Little Known Tax Break The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 extended a little known tax break through 2007 for California ’s small businesses, their employees and the self-employed that participate in consumer directed healthcare through a Medical Savings Account (MSA). 2:31:19 PM    comment []

Possible Tax-Code Change to Promote Consumer Driven Healthcare With health-care costs emerging as one of voters' biggest domestic concerns, President Bush is considering promoting a tax-code change making it easier for people to buy health insurance for themselves in the open market, rather than relying on employers. 2:21:49 PM    comment []

Five Reasons Why the Self-Employed Should Look at HSAs in 2007 HSA Qualified Health Plans work by coupling a Qualified High Deductible Health Plan (Q-HDHP) with a Tax Advantaged Health Savings Account. The funds deposited to the HSA can be utilized to pay for Qualified Medical Expenses on a tax-free basis and balances roll over from year to year. The minimum Q-HDHP deductibles are $1,100 for single and $2,200 for family coverage. When coupled with 100% co-insurance plans they can significantly reduce the annual maximum out of pocket cash when compared with traditional Co-pay plans. This is especially true when discussing family plans where there may be deductibles for each family member. The Q-HDHP plans utilize family deductibles where one or multiple family members' medical costs go toward a single deductible. 2:21:03 PM    comment []

New Company Offers Prevention-Based Healthcare Programs For Hospitals, Employers and Consumers Launched today, U.S. Preventive Medicine® is creating preventive programs and services designed to give Americans more good years, by detecting health risks early and then preventing them from becoming life-threatening diseases or mitigating their severity.  These programs include preventive diagnostics, health risk assessments, counseling and intervention. 2:20:28 PM    comment []

Report On HSAs Growth, Characteristics Published By Nationally-Known Healthcare Data Firm President Bush is expected to talk about Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) in his upcoming State of the Union address and they enter 2007 on an upswing. HSAs are becoming a mainstream healthcare and financial services products with clear trends emerging. For insurance providers, financial institutions and industry suppliers, anticipating the market and knowing what will happen is becoming even more crucial to long-term success. “Our staff has put together the most definitive report yet on why individuals and companies purchase HSAs, how they use them and who provides the products and services to make them more efficient,” said JoAnn Laing, President ^ CEO of Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI). The 2007 HSA Market And Outlook Study is crammed with the latest charts and data on Health Savings Accounts based on interviews with more than 17,000 users and 200 financial institutions. This second edition is a “must-read” for industry leaders. (for more details click here) Since their inception, the Ridgefield, NJ-based firm has been in the forefront of providing the kind of actionable knowledge industry leaders need to be profitable in the rapidly changing HSA environment. The 2007 HSA Market and Outlook Study is particularly valuable for executives in the financial services, healthcare insurance, and provider sectors. It will also be of value to investment professionals, new sector entrants and providers of ancillary services. For additional information and purchasing options, contact: Donald Mazzella, Publisher at 201-242-0600 or editor@hsafinder.com. 1:14:59 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2007 Information Strategies, Inc.. Last update: 2/14/2007; 9:45:29 AM.