14 DAY TRIAL // Bush made a visit Wednesday in Ohio, one of the important states when it comes to his re-election, in order to promote the administration's new health plan, namely the tax-free savings accounts or HSAs, designed to help a part of the 45 million Americans who are uninsured.
"Health savings accounts are making health care more affordable", said Bush, at the Wendy's International headquarters in Ohio. However, he received criticism from the audience, alleging the new health plan does nothing for the unemployed or poor people, who cannot make the payments.
The current law states that people can sign up for health saving accounts if first they have a health insurance to cover catastrophic costs of at least $1.000 a year for an individual and over $2.100 for a family.
The visit also had a political side; Ohio offers for this year the position of governor and several seats in the Senate and in the House, predicting the voter's preferences for 2008. HSAs have been bought by 3 million Americans so far, including 9,000 employees of Wendy's, the fast-food chain where Bush held his conference and which is a big supporter of Bush's party.
Wendy has been chosen for a visit because of its tax free savings accounts; instead of the usual health plan which needs to be paid monthly, the company contributes directly to the savings account in question. The opposing Democratic side states that the plan is useful only if one is relatively healthy and quite wealthy.
A fast food worker earning $15.000 a year could not afford to pay $5.000 for the account or about $1.000 in medical bills. This plan could increase the number of people without a health insurance, worsening the health crisis.
In his defense, the U.S. president stated that more than a third of the people who own HSAs are uninsured, from which 40% earn less than $40.000 a year. A recent poll, taking into account these new actions, showed that 38% of Ohio voters approve Bush's decisions.