President Bush, SBA leader meet with women entrepreneurs

Bush and Baruah participated in a roundtable discussion at SBA’s Women’s Business Center with local women entrepreneurs. They listened to testimony of women business owners who are currently benefiting from these accounts, and those who are considering them.

Both leaders highlighted the many benefits of health savings accounts and answered questions for those who have yet to start these HSAs.

“In my roles at the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and now as head of the SBA, I have met with many small-business owners throughout the country, and they have shared their concerns with me,” Baruah said in a news release. “ A topic that always arises is the rising cost of health care. Health savings accounts provide small-business owners and the self-employed with an affordable option to health care coverage.”

The roundtable discussion was a joint effort of the SBA, the National Economic Council and the Department of the Treasury to promote the benefits of health savings accounts, which are tax-preferred accounts owned by individuals and used to pay for current and future medical expenses, including deductibles, co-payments and other forms of cost-sharing.

A Web site, www.hsa.gov, has been developed as an online resource for small businesses and individuals considering HSAs, the release said.