Lose weight. Exercise more. Go to the dentist at least twice a year.

Like many Americans, health goals typically top the list of New Year’s resolutions. But a month into the New Year, how many are actually sticking to their objectives?

Of 12,000 people, about 30 percent of those making resolutions say they don’t even keep them into February, according to a survey conducted by eDiets.com, a consumer diet and fitness website. One in five people actually stuck it out six months.

Perhaps it’s time to consider a more realistic ambition for 2005: saving money. A Health Savings Account (HSA) lets Americans do just that—and it’s still angled toward staying healthy.

HSAs were created by the “Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003” and signed into law by United States President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003.

“An HSA is an innovative approach to healthcare that gives you affordable coverage for major illness and allows you to save money, tax-free, up to a set limit, to use for routine medical expenses,” Bush said at an October 21 conference on Medical Liability Reform and Health Care in Downingtown, PA.

“You can make a contribution to this account, your government can make a contribution to this account or your employer can make a contribution to the account,” Bush said. “If you don’t use all the money in a year, you can roll it over, tax-free, to meet future (health) expenses.”

Bremerton-based KPS Health Plans offers HSA options for small- and large-group employers, as well as individuals and families, under The Healthy Investor®

KPS President Elizabeth Gilje said employers pay a much lower premium for a high-deductible HSA plan. “This means, they can take the money they currently spend on premiums for a traditional health plan and choose how it is allocated,” she said. “They choose if they want to deposit some or all of the balance into a tax-deductible HSA for their employees. Employees can also contribute to the account to help cover their costs and save funds tax-free.”

Employers, employees or both can contribute up to 100 percent of the plan’s deductible using pre-tax dollars and can choose how their HSA contributions are invested or spent, she said. Amounts paid out are not taxable, as long as the funds are used to pay for qualified medical expenses: deductibles, coinsurance for medical services, prescriptions and more. HSA funds can be used to purchase over-the-counter drugs and long-term care insurance as well.

And of course, the amounts paid out for qualified medical expenses are not taxable. Employees also benefit from lower taxable income.

“The great thing about an HSA is that it is owned by the individual, not the employer,” Gilje said. “If an individual changes jobs, the HSA goes with the individual and the funds can be used to pay health insurance premiums during any period of unemployment, or they can stay in the account and gain interest.”

To encourage saving for health expenses after retirement, HSA owners between age 55 and 65 are allowed to make additional catch-up contributions to their HSAs and still enjoy the same tax advantages. Individuals eligible for Medicare may not open an HSA.

Earlier this year, United States Secretary John W. Snow spoke at a Health Savings Account event, calling the new benefit a historic change to the way Americans look at health care.

“At a time when health care costs are rising rapidly and individuals, families and employers are struggling to find lower-cost alternatives, HSAs are a terrific option that I think every American ought to consider,” Snow said. “It’s something that makes a lot of sense and will prove to be empowering for consumers.”

Consider a Health Savings Account as a great way to start the New Year. It’s a lot less intimidating that trying to fit back into those jeans you wore back in high school.

To learn more about The Healthy Investor® HSA plans from KPS, ask your broker or call your KPS Account Executive at (360) 478-6786 or toll-free at (800) 628-3753.