You may have heard of Health Savings Accounts or HSAs but you’re not really sure what they are. It’s the Bush administration’s main initiative in the health care area and Clark really likes the idea. Right now, the health insurer and your employer are the customer, and you’re in third position. No one cares about you and you have no say in what you pay. But with an HSA, you get a trade-off. You get much lower premiums for health coverage, but you have to pay the first minimum $1,000 for coverage. The money you don’t spend, goes into a tax-free savings account known as an HAS. It earns money tax-free and is used tax free to pay for medical expenses. Now, if you see the doctor frequently, an HSA is not a good idea. But for many, it’s a huge improvement because you will be more conscious about how much you’re spending. Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health care companies, is getting in on the HSA game early. The company is concerned about losing customers to individual HSA plans. So, as an experiment, the company is going to allow customers to buy an HSA plan through Kaiser. About one in four Kaiser members will be eligible. The premiums will be much lower, but the doctor visits will cost much more. It won’t be the typical $10 or $15 co-payment. It’s not the traditional Kaiser business model, but Clark congratulates them for trying something new. The market place will decide if it’s a good idea or not and we’ll keep you posted.