Money not spent during the year may be left in the account to grow tax free. In addition to medical expenses, MSA funds may be used to pay health insurance premiums when people are between jobs. How MSAs Can Help Meet the Challenge of Managed Care. Most Americans are currently in some form of managed care. While managed care appears to have succeeded in reducing the growth of health care spending, it also has interfered with the doctor-patient relationship, often making doctors feel they are agents of a managed care bureaucracy rather than agents of their patients.
Critics also believe that managed care has lowered the overall quality of health care.
However, before MSAs can resolve these and other problems facing the health care system, Congress needs to make several legislative reforms. However, major insurers are reluctant to enter so small a market since its size does not warrant the marketing of a new product - for example, the way Roth IRAs have been marketed. Another restriction that discourages major insurers from offering and aggressively promoting MSA products is that because Congress established it as a demonstration project, the MSA program ends after four years. This sunsetting provision should be eliminated so that buyers and sellers of MSAs know they will be able to use their accounts for years to come. Permit Any Size Company to Adopt MSAs.