A good old-fashioned political fight appears to be brewing in South Carolina, where a plan to move more than 80,000 Medicaid recipients to health savings accounts (HSAs) is drawing fire from Democrats and praise from Republicans. The state appears to be the latest flash point in the debate over the use of personal savings accounts by the government. Many conservative healthcare economists argue that the plans are a good way to shift power into the hands of consumers and encourage personal responsibility on the part of recipients. That has led the Bush administration to emphasize them as a way to bring health spending under control. Critics counter that HSAs are unproven, likely to confuse many recipients, and will end up passing on extra costs to the poorest of the poor.
- see this story from the AP