Gingrich Joins Perdue For Signing Of Health Bills

(5/7/08) Gov. Sonny Perdue signed SB 383 and HB 977 on Wednesday, measures which their sponsors say will make high-deductible health plans (paired with health savings accounts) more affordable and available in the Georgia insurance market. Joining Perdue for the ceremony was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose group, the Center for Health Transformation, was instrumental in pushing the legislation.

“We believe very deeply that if we can encourage every American to have a health savings account, if we can get every American involved in preventive care, in wellness, in early testing and in learning how to manage chronic diseases ... we think all of that moves us in the right direction,” Gingrich said.

He added, “We’ve seen estimates that this bill is in fact going to allow one-third of the people who are currently uninsured to be able to afford health insurance, and that’s 500,000 Georgians.”

Perdue said: “There are no simple solutions but we take it a step at a time. And, ladies and gentlemen, this is a great step forward today in the transparency of health care in the personal responsibility, in the incentives it provides ... It’s moving in the right direction to move a very complex issue towards more common sense.”

A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is a health insurance plan that offers consumers lower premiums and higher deductibles than a traditional health plan. A Health Savings Account (HSA) allows consumers to set aside funds for future qualified medical health expenses on a tax-free basis. The health insurance reform legislation signed Wednesday includes several provisions to make HDHPs, paired with HSAs, more affordable and available in the Georgia insurance market. The legislation provides incentives to small businesses to provide HDHPs paired with HSAs.

Here is the summary from the governor's office on how the legislation works::

HB 977 exempts insurers from state premium taxes for the sale of high deductible health plans with a Health Savings Account while allowing persons to deduct from state income taxes an amount equal to premiums paid to a HSA plan. HB 977 will affect mostly the self-employed and small business employees by providing a $250 annual tax credit for small business employers that spend at least $250 annually to enroll their employers in an HSA plan. The legislation will allow the Commissioner of Insurance to fast track the approval of HSA plans, exempt HSA plans from the ban on rebates and allow insurers to reward their members who enroll in an HSA plan for healthy lifestyle changes.

SB 383 complements House Bill 977, adding two provisions. First, Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) are accounts that employers may set up for employees that allows the employee to use pre-tax dollars to pay for health expenses, including health insurance. The bill states that HRA only plans that are not sold with or packaged with individual health insurance policies are not insurance. Second, HSA plans must comply with the consumer choice option under current law. This means that the insured will be able to choose any willing provider so long as the insured pays any increase in premiums and cost.

Joining Perdue and Gingrich were the bills’ sponsors, Sen. Judson Hill and Rep. Tom Knox, along with Reps. Rich Golick, Jan Jones, Mickey Channell and Sen. Ralph Hudgens.

A few weeks ago in a State Your Point column, Insider featured an online debate between proponents and opponents of the legislation. Here is a link to that column.