Response to Sebastian Mallaby colum in The Washington Post

To the editors:

Health Savings Accounts provide new incentives for people who have been shut out of the system to get health insurance. Consumers can purchase a more affordable, high-deductible health insurance policy that protects them against major medical expenses, and they then can use the savings from the lower premiums to pay for routine health expenses.

Early studies showed that 40 percent of those purchasing HSAs were previously uninsured, and the great majority of HSA owners are middle-aged families with children. President Bush also has proposed refundable tax credits which would provide new subsidies to working Americans without access to health insurance to get coverage.

These policies promote individual ownership of health insurance, which means people don't have to lose their health insurance if they lose their jobs. It's hard to see how that is a "clunker of a policy," as Mr. Mallaby claims.

Grace-Marie Turner

President

Galen Institute