Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are going to be the most prominent health plan option for the individual buying his or her own health insurance within a year or two. In five to ten years. I think, it will be the only option for many Americans on employer paid health plans. Why? Because the premiums for traditional health insurance keep going up, and by using HSA-linked plans, employers can more precisely budget what their health tabs will be. “With traditional insurance plans, employers are basically giving employees credit cards and paying the bill for them at the end of the month”, said Kate Kohn-Parrott, director of integrated health care and disability for the Chrysler Group.

Critics say the plans are just another tax-sheltering tool for the healthy and wealthy and I agree. If you are “wealthy” enough to save some of the money you earn and are healthy enough to qualify for health insurance, there is no better option for you than the high-deductible health plan with a health savings account.

What’s new is that big companies like Chrysler are offering high-deductible health plans and health savings accounts. In most cases, the employee is responsible for building up savings in the tax-free HSA. But at Chrysler and some other companies, the employers also are contributing to the accounts. In 2006, Chrysler contributed $500 to each individual's HSA and $1,000 to each family's HSA. Chrysler also offers paid coverage for health screenings and annual physicals.

Nationwide, 3.2 million Americans -- from corporate employees to the self-employed -- have enrolled in the high-deductible health plans, up from 1 million just a year ago, reports America's Health Insurance Plans. The U.S. Department of Treasury projects that between 7 million and 21 million Americans will have HSAs in four years.