Today we will be discussing Health Reimbursement Accounts (The HRA). An HRA is an account owned and funded by a business or organization for the purpose of reimbursing the employees of that business or organization for qualified, out-of-pocket medical expenses.

With Health-care Reform held captive in Washington the American worker is waking up today to the same Health Insurance program he/she had yesterday, just paying more for it.

What I want you to take away from this article is that COST is the infection creating the American Health Care Crisis. A Public Health option does nothing to cure our Cost problem. With a Public Option, Health Insurance Premiums go down, Taxes go up…

Tort reform is not “The Answer” to the health care problem but to put your head in the sand like some legislators have on the issue is insanity. Most proponents of tort reform for medical malpractice believe (and this was echoed by President Obama in his speech last Wednesday) that fear of lawsuits drives doctors to perform unnecessary tests sometimes in redundancy in order to escape malpractice suits.

What advice can be offered when a national insurance broker like Aon is predicting 10 percent across the board increases in health insurance premiums?

The advice is NOT sit-back, auto-renew and wait for a Public Option. Because there is a very honest chance the Public Option never materializes.

High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) tend to scare the crap out of many employers.

“The researchers concluded that there is strong evidence that being insured increases body mass index and obesity, and that more generous insurance coverage could exacerbate the situation.”

The second bill permits families to cover their young adult dependents through age 29 under their job-based insurance (Parents concerned about their mid-twenties child’s health care can now cover that child till 29. However, that child must be considered a dependent for tax purposes).

This new legislation states “Businesses that do not offer health coverage to their workers would pay an 8 percent payroll tax to help subsidize coverage …” And by “subsidize” they mean make you pay for the Public Plan.

Fortunately, all hope is not lost. Health Carriers are starting to realize the strain that high health premiums are putting on America’s small businesses. In an effort to decrease the health benefit burden Health Carriers are rolling out new benefit options such as Hybrid and High-Deductible plans in addition to EPO and PPO plans. These plans do not by any means have rock bottom, bargain basement prices, but the savings from a traditional HMO can be very significant.