Will Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), made possible by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, bring about a revolution in the health insurance market? Will they lower the cost of health insurance and help to reduce the number of people without coverage?

While little research has been done until now about the probable effects of HSAs, a new study, “Health Savings Accounts: Early Estimates of National Takeup,” by University of Minnesota scholars Stephen Parente, Roger Feldman, Jean Abraham, Jon Christianson, and Ruth Taylor offers us a first look at the effects of health savings accounts and tax subsidies on health coverage and costs. Two of the authors will present their findings at this AEI event and two experts with extensive knowledge of the health insurance market will analyze the methodology and policy implications of the research.

This discussion is sponsored jointly by Health Affairs and the American Enterprise Institute. The study was recently published in the November/December 2005 issue of Health Affairs.