CAHI: 73 Percent of MSAs Purchased by Previously Uninsured; MSAs Vital to Help the Uninsured Get Coverage

10/3/2002

From: Tom Gardner of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, 703-836-6200 ext. 386

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 3 -- The IRS just announced that a staggering 73 percent of Americans who purchased a Medical Savings Account (MSA) in 2001 were previously uninsured. While the number of uninsured Americans continues to rise -- recently reported as 41.2 million people -- Congress has failed to remove the burdensome restrictions it placed on tax-qualified MSAs in 1996, and it never made the program permanent.

"These numbers just prove that MSAs can help solve the growing problem of uninsured Americans," said Dr. Merrill Matthews, director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI). "The Census Bureau recently announced that the number of Americans without health insurance grew by 1.4 million, to a total of 41.2 million people. These people need health insurance now, and MSAs can help accomplish that."

CAHI calls upon all members of Congress to take action now and end the restrictions that prevent millions of Americans from purchasing an MSA. In addition, it should abolish the current MSA sunset date of December 31, 2003, and make the program permanent. "We now know that the uninsured want MSAs," continued Matthews. "Failure to make MSA plans accessible to every American means Congress doesn't want to do something about the uninsured - or the high cost of health insurance."

CAHI is a research and advocacy association of insurance carriers active in the individual, small group, MSA, and senior markets. CAHI's membership includes health insurance companies, small businesses, physicians, actuaries, and insurance brokers. Since 1992, CAHI has been an advocate for market-oriented solutions such as MSAs to the problems in America's health care system.