HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS

For years, the self-employedhave wrestled with the high cost ofhealth insurance. One popular solutionhas been a high-deductible policycoupled with a Medical SavingsAccount (MSA) funded with pretaxdollars. Money from the MSA canbe used to meet the deductible or topay for services that the insurancedoesn't cover. Any unused cash canbe carried forward into the followingyear. This year, however, thecost of health insurance for the selfemployedbecomes 100% deductibleas a business expense, whichmay make buying a more costly policyfeasible. MSAs, however, willstill offer more health care choicesand can help employees spend theirhealth care dollars more judiciously.For more information on MSAs,visit www.msainfo.net.