The Background

John Tyler, a principal of Boys and Tyler Financial Group, Inc. and HSA-Health Savings Accounts, Inc. has been heavily involved in the diagnosis and treatment of sky rocketing group health insurance premiums since 1993. The problem of premium affordability was very pronounced even then for businesses of all sizes, and in an effort to get to the root of the problem, Mr. Tyler joined the Jim Ramstad Health Care advisory committee. He also Chaired the Allen Quist for governor Health Care Task Force. This was a 28 member panel of health care providers, employers, legislators, and financial people. This committee designed a health care financing model called a “Health Care Savings Account”, paired with a privately-owned, catastrophic major medical policy. The purpose of my political involvement was to pursue both personal deductibility of the savings account deposits, and personal deductibility of the major medical premium. We perceived the intrinsic problems plaguing the marketplace as lack of patient/consumer involvement in claims responsibility, guaranteed issue employer-owned contracts, overly comprehensive insurance plans and a pervasive entitlement mentality among the patient community. We introduced the concept of the privately owned Health Care Savings Account at a press conference at the Quist for Governor Campaign Headquarters.

When Allen Quist lost to sitting governor Arne Carlson in the primary, we transferred the Quist for Governor Health Care Task Force into the Minnesota Republican Party Health Care Advisory Committee. A member of the Quist committee was the Chairman of the Republican Party Health Care Advisory Committee, Dr. Ken Heithoff. Dr. Heithoff also served on the Jim Ramstad Health Care Advisory Committee.

In 1995 Dr. Heithoff arranged a meeting with a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Bill Thomas, for himself and Mr. Tyler. We flew out to Washington to meet with Rep. Thomas and presented to him our vision of a consumer driven model of health care financing that would separate the employer form the process, and allow individuals to personally purchase their own coverage and make their own Health Care Savings Accounts deposits and deduct their deposit amounts. This would allow individuals to own their own health insurance plans, own their own savings accounts and take them with them from employer to employer. Both employers and individuals could make the deposits into the HCSAs on behalf of the individual on a pre-tax basis. The account would be interest bearing, and the insurance coverage would be totally portable. Premiums could be paid from the savings account when the individual is between jobs. Rep. Thomas was very interested and intrigued, and over time got behind the idea of privately owned insurance and HCSA funding. We got together with Mr. Thomas several times after that to discuss details of the plan.

Today Rep. Thomas is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and has been very influential in passing the initial “Medical Savings Account” legislation for the self-employed and small businesses, and now the new and very much improved Health Savings Account legislation for all individuals, small and large employers. Legislation allowing the personal tax deductibility of eligible premiums is pending Congressional approval. President Bush is pushing for this and will sign it if it makes his desk.

At HSA-Health Savings Accounts, Inc. we are very proud of our involvement in designing the prototype for what we believe will be the dominant method of future health care financing in America. We hope future generations will be better off medically and financially, and health insurance premiums will be more affordable due to our considerable efforts, and the efforts of many others just like us, to address this national issue. John T. Tyler, II

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