Don't you just love it when politicians say one thing and do another?
Sure, in this day and age of commercial pandering and moral hypocrisy it's to be expected to some extent, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. It's like dealing with kids sometimes. Like when my son insists with the straightest face in the world that he didn't do anything — even as his sister's broken Bratz doll dangles from his sticky hand.
For a few years now, the pencil necks holed up in the Beltway have been preaching the virtues of consumer-driven health plans, echoing the sentiments of most employers.
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"It's time health care consumers took more responsibility," we're told.
"They need to start assuming more of the cost," they insist. "Then they'll be more savvy users of the system."
All of this, of course, will help reign costs in. That logic has merit. And, finally, the market is reflecting that, as both participation and demand continue to grow. Even the once-neglected fulcrum of this entire argument — transparency — is earning serious talk from industry experts and regulators alike.
Things finally seem to be taking shape.
So, that means something must be wrong. Because why else would the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee wrap another roll of red tap around the entire process? Seems the suits in Washington want to tighten up the rules, requiring substantiation of all health savings account transactions.
And that's just on the federal level. Guess the politicians know better than most that we should be careful what we wish for.
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