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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Senator Armstrong Offers Incentive Measures For Health Care SavingsThe debate over changes to health care in Pennsylvania must go beyond programs to expand coverage and include steps aimed at making coverage more affordable, in the view of Senator Gib Armstrong. "A lot of effort is being poured into expanding state government's role in mandating health insurance coverage, but we need to look at different approaches. If we can find ways to effectively control the cost of health insurance, we can make it more accessible for more people through the private market. Part of the answer is offering incentives for those who take steps toward healthier living and for those who exercise the financial discipline to set aside money to meet their health care needs," Armstrong said. Armstrong is introducing two bills, one that would offer discounts for establishing healthy living committees in the workplace, and the other that would increase the incentives for lower-income families to establish health savings accounts. Healthy living committees are modeled after the worker safety committees that were a key part of a successful workers' compensation reform in the early 1990s. "We have seen that making the workplace safer has helped to reduce costs for companies on their required WC insurance. Encouraging employees to adopt healthier living practices can yield similar savings for companies on the health care coverage they provide. Plus, individuals who improve their health save money by making fewer doctor visits and fewer trips to the hospital," he pointed out. Health savings accounts are an increasingly popular alternative to government-mandated health care insurance programs. The Armstrong bill would offer state tax credits to Pennsylvanians with income at 200% or less of the poverty level. For 2007, the federally-set poverty guideline for a family of four was $20,650. "We have already approved tax advantages for those who have the means to set up health savings accounts. This effort takes it farther, by giving low-income families some money to help set up and sustain these accounts. As part of our community development efforts, Pennsylvania has offered a Family Savings Account program for low-income residents. That principle would be applied to health care in this proposal," Armstrong explained. To alleviate concerns about the impact this program could have on the state budget, the HSA tax credit program will be capped at $75 million, identical to the amount set aside for the film tax credit created in the current state budget.
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