[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15451-15452]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

  (Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, health savings accounts are one of the 
best ways to put families back in control of their health care destiny. 
HSAs have expanded coverage, but Congress needs

[[Page 15452]]

to make them more practical for working families and patients in poor 
health, and also remove rules that discriminate against veterans and 
seniors in Medicare.
  This week, I introduced H.R. 2639 to permit larger contributions, 
allow coverage below the deductible for prescription drugs, and provide 
tax relief for premiums. The bill removes barriers that make it illegal 
for families to deposit their own money in an HSA after they receive 
care through Medicare or the VA. It also helps working families to 
build intergenerational ``wealth for health'' by allowing adult 
children to inherit a Medicare HSA in the same way that a spouse may 
now do.
  It makes sense to help Americans save for future medical costs, 
especially when we consider our Nation's negative savings rate and 
Medicare's looming financial problems.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, to expand consumer choice 
and control it.

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