Early HSA Advocate Dies
J. Patrick Rooney, a former chairman of Golden Rule Insurance Co. and an early proponent of savings accounts linked to high-deductible health insurance plans, died Monday, September 15, in Indianapolis. He was 80.
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September 16, 2008
Early HSA Advocate Dies
J. Patrick Rooney, a former chairman of Golden Rule Insurance Co. and an
early proponent of savings accounts linked to high-deductible health insurance
plans, died Monday, September 15, in Indianapolis. He was 80.
Rooney championed health savings accounts—long before they became politically
popular—as a way of giving employees financial incentives to use medical care
services more carefully.
In 1993, Golden Rule set up medical savings accounts—a predecessor to
HSAs—and Rooney frequently cited their success in controlling costs in pushing
Congress to pass legislation that authorized HSAs, which have greater tax
advantages than MSAs.
In his later years, Rooney was active in publicizing how hospitals were
charging uninsured patients rates far in excess of their rates for fully insured
patients.
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