Say no to Health Savings Accounts

SAY NO TO HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS -- (House of Representatives - February 15, 2006)

02/15/06

(Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, when President Bush served as governor of Texas, that State had more uninsured people than any other State in the union, and his system continues until today: Texas still has more uninsured people percentage-wise as well as numerically.

Today, President Bush visited Ohio to try to sell his latest health care scheme. The reality is his health savings accounts are simply tax shelters for the healthy and wealthy, leaving more Americans worse off. Indeed, the numbers of the uninsured in Ohio have grown dramatically during his administration. More than one out of four people under the age of 65 went without health insurance, and almost half of Ohio's households with children are uninsured, while 76 percent of the uninsured are members of working families.

The President's travel stop today reminds me of his Social Security drive to privatize that a year ago. The American people said no. Our working families deserve better and should not buy this latest ploy for health savings accounts either that are going to leave most Americans in the drink.

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