The House, strong-armed by bozo-deluxe Pete Stark (D-CA) has passed a bill mandating confirmation of virtually all HSA eligible withdrawals. The measure is being strongly pushed by Bob Patricelli, a CT businessman who owns a patent on bookkeeping software that coincidentally stands to make a bundle should this bill pass.
This is a hot topic and because this particular articles does an excellent job explaining the issue, I urge you to click here and read the article from the Heartland Institute.
COMMENT:
And you thought the days of businessmen being in bed with Congressmen were over. What a sham!
Simply amazing how egg-headed certain members of Congress can be. Thankfully, the President will veto this garbage should it ever pass the Senate.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Bob Oveissi // Feb 26, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hello kind sir,
You are not protraying the real issue being discussed here. The reason substantiation is so very important is that individuals can go to CVS or Walgreens…etc…and purchase “ANYTHING” from their HSA account and not be qualified. If they spend on electronics, groceries and other misc stuff, their bill simply shows that the total came froma pharmacy and would automatically be withdrawn from their HSA account. that would be MASSIVE fraud, as the deductibles would easily be met by pruchasing NON-MEDICAL items. It would cost the tax-payer so much more in the long run.
If I had a $2,500 deductible and an out of pocket max of $5,000 or example…I could buy normal bousehold goods very quickly adding up to $2,500 from these super-pharmacy stores. Once the $2,500 deductible is met, then my co-insurance costs would be a maximum of another $2,500. I, essentially got away with a zero deductible plan and have a very small premium payment to boot…..please understand ALL sides of a story…then blog your opinion.
Sincerely
Bob Oveissi
2 admin // Mar 6, 2009 at 7:16 am
Bob:
Thank you for acknowledging my underlying kind nature.
I’m afraid you overstate your position while ignoring mine. You state that individuals “can go to CVS . . . and purchase ‘ANYTHING’ from their HSA account.”
This is a factually incorrect statement. In fact, an individual CANNOT go to CVS and purchase non-medical expenses with their HSA account. To do so would be a violation of the Internal Revenue Code. In other words, it would be illegal. Thus, people CANNOT go to CVS and use tax-free HSA funds to purchase non-qualified medical expenses under the law.
If people choose to ignore this, or any other, tax law, they are in violation and subject to severe penalties.
That is the law as it stands. The point I was making, which you ignored, is that there is a lot of questionable stuff going on behind the scenes of that particular legislation. Specifically, the individual pushing the legislation who stands to profit directly from its enactment.
Moreover, the current enforcement mechanism is more than sufficient. What you may not be aware of, Bob, is that an individual must submit a document to the IRS with his 1040 form, under penalty of perjury, indicating exactly which dollars were withdrawn from the HSA for qualified medical expenses. Thus, a record-keeping system already IS in place. We don’t need yet another one.
Thanks for your comment.
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