Bill Text: TX HCR90 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Urging Congress to allow health savings accounts to be used for direct primary care.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-25 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HCR90 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR90-Introduced.html
86R14371 KSM-D | ||
By: Shaheen | H.C.R. No. 90 |
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WHEREAS, An effective way to offset the increasing cost of | ||
health care is to use direct primary care for all primary health | ||
care services and use a high deductible health insurance plan in | ||
combination with a health savings account to cover more expensive | ||
care and hospitalization; and | ||
WHEREAS, In direct primary care, a single low monthly fee to a | ||
physician or clinic covers all primary care services, with no | ||
preexisting condition exclusions, no disagreements over covered | ||
treatments, no insurance forms to fill out, and no deductibles or | ||
co-pays; and | ||
WHEREAS, A high deductible health insurance plan in | ||
combination with a health savings account is offered by the | ||
Employees Retirement System (ERS) of Texas to state employees; the | ||
ERS notes that health savings accounts are like tax-free nest eggs | ||
for health care expenses because contributions are tax-free, up to | ||
a certain amount set by the Internal Revenue Service; withdrawals | ||
are not taxed, as long as the money is used for qualified health | ||
expenses, and interest and investment earnings are not taxed; and | ||
WHEREAS, Unfortunately, Texans who enroll in a high | ||
deductible health insurance plan in combination with a health | ||
savings account cannot use their health savings account to pay for | ||
direct primary care because of an Internal Revenue Service ruling | ||
that direct primary care constitutes a second health insurance | ||
plan, which is prohibited under federal law governing tax-free | ||
contributions to a health savings account; and | ||
WHEREAS, Like many other states, Texas has passed legislation | ||
to establish that direct primary care is not insurance and that a | ||
physician providing direct primary care in return for a monthly | ||
retainer is not subject to regulation by the Texas Department of | ||
Insurance for the direct primary care; and | ||
WHEREAS, Likewise, a federal regulation adopted by | ||
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement the | ||
Affordable Care Act treats direct primary care clinics, known as | ||
medical homes, as a health benefit, not a health insurance plan; and | ||
WHEREAS, Despite state and federal action to clarify that | ||
direct primary care is not insurance, congressional action is | ||
needed to allow health savings accounts to be used for direct | ||
primary care; such action would benefit many Texans, including | ||
those in rural communities, by encouraging more patients to get | ||
their care from a personal physician, rather than a hospital | ||
emergency room, and by encouraging more physicians to practice in | ||
direct primary care; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
hereby urge Congress to allow health savings accounts to be used for | ||
direct primary care; and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |