H-1533.1                  _______________________________________________

                                             HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4019

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Representatives Dyer, Zellinsky, Tate, Ballasiotes, Schmidt, Vance, Padden, Kremen, Scott, Grant, Forner, Stevens, Brough, Mielke, Silver, Morton, Foreman, Reams, Sheahan, Thomas, Sehlin, Fuhrman, Horn, Miller, Casada, Ballard, Brumsickle, Chandler, Edmondson and Cooke

Read first time 03/01/93.  Referred to Committee on Health Care.

Requesting Congress to allow medical care savings accounts.

          TO THE HONORABLE BILL CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, It is estimated thirty-seven million Americans are without health insurance, many while between jobs, and more are underinsured because of the effects of rising health care costs and spending.  The costs of health care are escalating forcing employers to trim the level and availability of health care benefits to their employees; and

          WHEREAS, Overutilization of health care services for relatively small claims is one of the most significant causes of health care cost and spending increases.  Currently, more than two-thirds of all insurance claims for medical spending are less than three thousand dollars per family per year in this country; and

          WHEREAS, In response to the runaway cost increases on health care spending in this country, the private sector has developed the concept of medical care savings accounts.  This initiative is designed to ensure health insurance availability for Americans.  It is predicated on providing incentives to eliminate unnecessary medical treatment and encourage competition in seeking health care; and

          WHEREAS, Through employer-funded medical care savings account arrangements and reduced cost qualified higher deductible insurance policies, millions of Americans could insure themselves for both routine and major medical services.  Under the concept of medical care savings accounts, an employer currently providing employee health care benefits would purchase instead a lower cost, high deductible major medical policy on each employee.  The employer may then set aside the saved premium differential in a medical care savings account arrangement.  The participating employees would use the money in the account to pay their medical care expenses up to the deductible.  However, any account money unspent by the participating employees in a plan year would then belong to the employee to save, spend on medical care, or otherwise.  This would be a strong incentive for people not to abuse health expenditures and to institute "cost-shopping" for medical care services; and

          WHEREAS, By setting aside money for employees to spend on health care, employees could change jobs and use the money they had so far earned to buy interim health insurance or cover health care expenses thereby eliminating the problem of uninsureds between jobs and helping reduce "job-lock"; and

          WHEREAS, By making medical care decisions the employee's prerogative, individual policyholders have a strong stake in reducing costs.  This simple financial mechanism will expand health insurance options to others who presently have no insurance.  Most importantly, this move to decrease health care cost burdens in this country would require no new federal bureaucracy and would be revenue neutral to employers;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Congress of the United States enact legislation swiftly and in good faith to enable Americans to establish medical care savings accounts.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.

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