Lots of people, mostly opponents to HSAs state with all sincerity and earnestness that HSAs will not work for the Medicaid population — mainly because, to paraphrase President Bush, [1] of the bigotry of soft expectations.

Turns out, HSAs for the Hoosier Medicaid eligible population are [2] so popular in Indiana that they have pulled all advertising to tell Hoosiers about the new plan introduced in January of this year, and have had to double their staff to process the applications.

Importantly, the HSAs for Hoosiers plan is designed the way Congress designed HSAs to work: fund the deductible in an account, and then have 100% insurance coverage once the money is spent.

HSAs Are Better for the Chronically Ill, Create Better Incentives for People to Be Healthier

Incentives in the private sector mean that we will pay you when you do well, the better you perform, the more incentive there is for that behavior.

HSAs have a built-in incentive to be healthier and be well. If you get sick because of your behavior (there are some experts who say the percentage of illness because of the patient’s behavior is very, very high) you pay the deductible with your money out of your Health Savings Account. That is a monetary incentive to stay healthy.

It works better than any other incentive.

That is why “employees in consumer-driven health plans [3] are 25 percent more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, 20 percent more likely to follow treatment regimens for chronic condition and 20 percent more likely to join employer-sponsored wellness programs.”

By the Numbers:

[4] Cigna’s consumer driven health care membership: 580,000
[5] WellPoint, Inc.’s consumer driven health care membership: 1.35 million

South Dakota Considers Bill to Force More Hospital Price Transparency

The trend of forcing hospitals to cough up their real prices continues across the nation with [6] South Dakota considering forcing more transparency by its hospitals.

Retail Health Clinics Gain Big Foothold

Wal-Mart just announced its [7] ‘The Clinic at Wal-Mart’ launch in Dallas, Atlanta and Little Rock. In three years, by 2010, Wal-Mart expects to open 400 of the clinics.