ObamaCare hits my health care (and maybe yours) starting Jan. 1

Obama and others have repeatedly told Americans how much they will benefit from the new health care law. To say the least, my family’s experience isn’t going to be so hot.

Why? Well, I, my wife, and our 11 month old daughter use something called a Health Savings Account (HSA). Unlike ObamaCare which places the government in charge of our care, HSA’s are an attempt to restore the direct relationship between health care consumers and their doctors. This includes financial responsibility. Needless to say, ObamaCare must counter efforts to restore individual control over care in order to work.

So, come January 1, rather than being able to use the money I’ve built up in my Health Savings Account (this also applies to Flexible Spending Accounts) over the last several years (pre-tax) to pay for aspirin, cold medicine, and other over-the-counter remedies, I’ll now be required to either get a doctor’s prescription or pay with after tax dollars. The situation is described in further detail here and here. The IRS says any money removed from HSA accounts to pay for medical expenses bought without a prescription will be included as taxable income and subject to an additional tax of 20 percent. The idea is to raise $14 billion to help pay for ObamaCare.

So, thanks to the infinite wisdom of Obama and Congress, 10 million consumers who use HSAs (and the many more who use FSAs) will now have to waste time and or money in order to comply with needless regulations. Unless this law is repealed, the situation will only worsen.