As out-of-pocket healthcare expenses remain a predominant issue, the Henry I Kaiser Family Foundation releases a study which compares the financial assets of uninsured households to cost-sharing requirements in consumer-driven health plans that utilize Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  The study found that uninsured households typically have fewer financial assets which may create difficulties when paying for the high deductible often equated with these health plans.

Health Savings Accounts, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003, were originally part of the Medicare Prescription, Improvement, and Modernization Act.  Thought to put more control into the hands of individuals and thus more mindfulness on health expenditures, these health plans allow for funds to be put into an account which can be used after a deductible is met.  However, with the typically high deductible, many households do not have the financial assets to gain access to their HSAs.  According to Kaiser's news release, "About one-third (33 percent) of households with at least two uninsured members had gross financial assets of at least $2,000, the minimum deductible for an HSA-qualified family plan in 2004, and only 9 percent had enough of these assets to cover the out-of-pocket maximum ($10,000)."

Projecting 12.5 million accounts by 2012, HSAs are growing as employers and individuals alike buy new policies.  For the low-income families with significant health needs this could have the potential to leave many in great financial debt.  Increased out-of-pocket liability could mean increased poor financial conditions throughout the United States.   

 Learn more about Kaiser's study