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Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

Judy Waxman

Judy Waxman is the Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women's Law Center. She pioneers advocacy, policy and educational strategies to promote the quality and availability of health care, including reproductive choice, for American women. Prior to joining the National Women's Law Center, Ms. Waxman served as Deputy Executive Director at Families USA for over a decade. In that capacity, she worked to achieve high quality, affordable health and long-term care for all Americans and was a leader on grassroots and activities on Medicaid, Medicare and other health care access legislative issues. She previously served as a Professional Staff Member with the Pepper Commission (the United States Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care). Ms. Waxman was also an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, an attorney for the Department of Health and Human Services and served as President of the Board of Directors of the Women's Medical Center, a nonprofit health clinic. She served on advisory committees for publications of the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the Older Women's League (OWL), and was the Chair of the Health Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and of the Leadership Conference of Aging Organizations. She holds a law degree from American University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami, in Florida.

My Take

7 Reasons Why Health Savings Accounts are No Solution for the Health Care Crisis

Posted by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights | Posted on: May 15, 2008 at 06:30 pm

by Judy Waxman, Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

This post is part of a daily series for National Women's Health Week and a weekly series on Women and Health Reform.

Comprehensive and affordable health coverage gives women access to the health care that is vital to their well-being. But this coverage is out of reach for far too many women and their families - that’s why we need real health reform that will help women and their families get the health care they need. 

Yesterday, I testified before Congress on why so-called “consumer-driven health care” and Health Savings Accounts do not qualify as the comprehensive and affordable health coverage we need in health reform. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-sheltered accounts for individuals enrolled in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and proponents of these consumer-driven arrangements state that they encourage saving for future health care expenses and allow consumers more control over health care choices. In my testimony, I laid out seven reasons why consumer-driven health care is a short-sighted remedy that fails to address the real obstacles to health care for Americans, especially lower-income women:

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