A local Congressman is working to loosen restrictions on Health Savings Accounts and Flex Savings Accounts put in place by the Affordable Care Act. 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood recently spoke on the floor of the House Ways & Means Committee about House Resolution 1922 called the Restoring Access to Medication Act of 2019.
The bill repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that limit payments for medications from health savings accounts, medical savings accounts, health flexible spending arrangements, and health reimbursement arrangements to only prescription drugs or insulin (thus allowing distributions from such accounts for over-the-counter drugs). The bill also allows the accounts to be used for menstrual care products. LaHood says it now opens up choices for consumers: “Under Obamacare, without a prescription, your choices were limited to seeing a physician for obtaining that prescription for costly out-of-pocket over the counter medicine. Sometimes people skipped purchasing over the counter medicine all together. Under our bill, people will now be able to use these tax-free savings for out of pocket healthcare expenses like the purchase of over-the-counter medication.”
The bill was introduced in March by 3rd District Democrat Representative of Wisconsin Ron Kind. The bill now heads to the subcommittee on Health before it will receive a reading on the floor of the House.