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A Reuters article, citing a report issued by the Commonwealth Fund, states that recently created Health Savings Accounts are going to lower the quality of care and put more Americans into debt.

Health plans with high patient-paid deductibles, embraced by many Republicans as a market-based solution to quell soaring medical-care costs, lead to poorer quality care and increasing patient debt, a study released on Thursday said.

As with many studies put out by think tanks, one must understand the philosophical underpinnings of the organization. The Commonwealth Fund's mission statement states the following:

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation established in 1918 by Anna M. Harkness with the broad charge to enhance the common good. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting efforts that help people live healthy and productive lives, and by assisting specific groups with serious and neglected problems. The Fund supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy.

The Fund's two national program areas are improving health insurance coverage and access to care and improving the quality of health care services. The Fund is dedicated to helping people become more informed about their health care, and improving care for vulnerable populations such as children, elderly people, low-income families, minority Americans, and the uninsured. An international program in health policy is designed to stimulate innovative policies and practices in the United States and other industrialized countries. In its own community, New York City, the Fund also makes grants to improve health care.

Draw your own conclusions, but it is always a good rule of thumb to understand where the ideas come from.