{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://neal.house.gov/2025/11/19/neal-statement-on-gao-report-confirming-health-savings-accounts-are-no-substitute-for-affordable-coverage/", "Neal Statement on GAO Report Confirming Health Savings Accounts are No Substitute for Affordable Coverage", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Richard E. Neal", "N000015", "neal.house.gov", "neal", "https://neal.house.gov/category/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC\u2014Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) released the following statement today after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a new report confirming that Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not a replacement for affordable health coverage:\n\n\u201cFor 15 years, Republicans have wasted everyone\u2019s time promising to repeal the ACA, and with what? We still don\u2019t know. As they scramble to come up with a plan, they\u2019re pretending HSAs can do the job. But as evidenced in a new GAO report, HSAs are no substitute for robust health insurance\u2014they\u2019re just another tax break for the wealthy.\n\n\u201cMost HSA accounts have less than $1,000 in them\u2014hardly enough to cover an emergency or the astronomical deductibles that go along with HSAs. And at a time when the people are being socked with higher costs everywhere they turn, they don\u2019t have the resources to dedicate to HSAs. Rather they need a health care system with lower costs, not just a new place for those with money to hoard it tax-free.\n\n\u201cAs Republicans push to yet again prioritize the well-off few, Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett will lead critical legislation that finally puts guardrails on these accounts and protects consumers. Concepts of a plan aren\u2019t going to cut it. Republicans must work with us to extend the expanded premium tax credits and deliver the affordable coverage people count on.\u201d\n\nREAD THE REPORT\n\nRanking Member Neal requested GAO track the financial impact of HSAs on consumers, and today\u2019s report is the product of that request.\n\nKey Findings\n\nNearly twice the share of individuals in the highest income group (an estimated 62 percent) had tax-advantaged accounts compared with the lowest income group (an estimated 32 percent).\n\nHSAs often come with recurring fees that chip away at account balances unless consumers maintain a high enough balance (typically a few thousand dollars).\n\nHSA providers don\u2019t always disclose these fees until enrollment, and officials from HSA providers even agreed that many fees are unnecessary.\n\nInterest rates on non-invested balances are paltry\u2014only on par with traditional checking accounts.\n\nIn fact, consumers with lower balances easily lose out because monthly fees outweigh any earned interest.\n\nMost accounts have low balances\u2014with invested HSAs holding a disproportionate share of assets.\n\nAs of December 31, 2022, an estimated 7 percent of HSAs had balances over $10,000, and 63 percent had balances less than $1,000, including 21 percent of accounts that had zero balance.\n\nIn each year from 2019 through 2023, individuals who invest at least a portion of their funds held a disproportionate share of total HSA assets. For example, in 2023, only 8 percent of HSAs were invested, but these accounted for an estimated 38 percent of all HSA assets, according to a Devenir Research report.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://neal.house.gov/2025/11/19/neal-statement-on-gao-report-confirming-health-savings-accounts-are-no-substitute-for-affordable-coverage/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1030500754714012, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}