Jim notices something that I missed in Malkin's recitation of her family's health care woes. After being priced out on the individual market for awhile, Malkin purchased what's called a Medical Savings Account. "The cure for limited market choices was less government intervention," she gloated in her post running away from a debate with me. "Not more." Yikes. No wonder she didn't want this debate. Here's Jim:
After ranting about S-CHIP and other government medical programs being socialism or whatever, she crows how wise her government-funded MSA account was as a 'choice'. Whether the government directly sends funds to insurance companies, or the taxpayer gets a tax deduction to fund a MSA, the government is still paying part or all of the cost. Somehow she can't quite admit to sucking on the same mammary gland as those she denounces.
Exactly right. Medical Savings Accounts (basically, the same thing as Health Savings Accounts) are government-subsidized, tax-protected accounts in which you can shelter income to be used for health spending. In other words, taxpayers who don't have a medical savings account are subsidizing those who do. Some thrilling escape from government Malkin carried out there.
Fun fact: Medical Savings Accounts were created in the 1996 Kassebaum-Kennedy bill and signed into law by Clinton. In case there's any confusion here that's Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton. And the accounts only exist because of a federal law signed in 1997. Not only is this government intervention, but it's really fresh government intervention.
