More Evidence For Small Government

Just a quick post today as I ponder the bloated mass that is our health care economy....

Got an email at work about my HRA (not FSA or HSA or...you get my point here, right? TOO MANY TYPES OF ACCOUNTS) and in trying to figure out what the "HRA Wellness Credit" was as opposed to the HRA itself, I poked around to determine what I can use the money on.

There is, of course, a site to help you know what is eligible and what is not. It's a very detailed, user-friendly site, in fact, I give it high marks for interface and use. The only reason that such a site is necessary, of course, is because of the aforementioned bloated mass that is American Health Insurance and Care, Inc. That's right, folks, because the US Gov't has a hand in all of this, there are strings attached to the $$ that your company GIVES YOU or that you have WITHHELD FROM YOUR PAY expressly for the purpose of offsetting uncovered medical costs.

Chard Snyder has a handy site to help you spend your FSA (and HRA?) dollars, in fact. Of course they do, why in the world would they miss out on this opportunity to keep the dollars that they manage for you? Seriously, they would be stupid not to!

I am trying to point out that all of this economic activity (building websites to help wade through the ridiculous restrictions on what you can spend health care dollars on, companies existing to manage your HRAs, FSAs, etc.) is only necessary because the Federal Gov't is so thoroughly enmeshed into what should be an independent sector of the economy. Ridiculous.

I tell you, this thought has roots in an old realization when working for a small family business that they had to waste money employing an accountant and payroll service because of the morass of taxes imposed by the federal government and the requirement to withhold payroll taxes rather than a much simpler (for the business) idea that I, the earner, am responsible for paying my quarterly income taxes and must therefore save a portion of my income and write that painful check a few times a year. These businesses are essentially forced to do the work (and pay for the privilege) of the IRS. Ridiculous.

Imagine the tax revolt we would have if there was no such thing as withholding?