Trump Budget Bill Expands Uses of Worker Health Savings Accounts

Health savings accounts will get a boost under the budget bill the House passed in a narrow vote Thursday, after a broader slate of expansions were stripped out of an earlier Senate version.

The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk, where he is expected to sign it. The measures were celebrated by employer and telehealth groups even as the broader health industry and patient advocates condemned the legislation for targeting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act spending.

The bill contains two provisions allowing high-deductible health plans with health savings accounts to cover telehealth before patients hit their deductible and permitting patients to pay fees for “direct primary care” arrangements from their HSAs. The bill also lets enrollees of ACA bronze and catastrophic plans use HSAs.

Employer groups have lobbied for HSA expansions for years. The ERISA Industry Committee, which advocates for large employers, praised the telehealth and direct primary care expansions following the House vote.

“ERIC will continue building on the bill’s foundational victories to deliver meaningful benefits changes for employees and their families, while guarding against efforts to weaken America’s private health and retirement systems,” ERIC President James Gelfand said in a statement.

Health tech groups celebrated the measures’ telehealth impacts.

“As technology continues to evolve and improve, the Health Innovation Alliance encourages Congress to make it a priority to allow technology to be easily incorporated into the healthcare system, without the unnecessary worry about if or when it could be taken away,” the Health Innovation Alliance said in a statement.

“Technology, like telehealth and AI, gives Americans access to better, more affordable care and should be championed,” the group added.