@CatDude - a guess:
it's not that the government wants to limit who is eligible for the HSA, I think it's just that who can deduct medical expenses is based on a patchwork of laws that passed over time.
1) medical expenses are deductible as an itemized deduction (with limits that exceed 7.5% of income). In effect those that take the standard deduction may be getting a benefit greater than those medical expenses, so include those medical expenses as deductible as well.
2) Medical premiums are also either deductible as itemized deductions (exclude Medicare) or as a deduction for self-employed or are paid in pre-tax funds from a paycheck
3) FSA accounts is another way to pay medical expenses with pre-tax dollars and was established way before the HSA
4) HSA were establised in 2003 and created another way to pay for expenses with pre-tax dollars and it permits investing those dollars to boot!
So I don't see it as the government wanting to exclude folks from HSAs, but simply the other way around. Meaning Congress looks for different approaches for the federal government to pay for medical costs over time and based on who is in power and what agendas are set, medical deductibility and ways to pay on a pre-tax basis has expanded over time.
HSA's filled a gap in 2003 and it's simply the way Congress passed the law.
just my two cents
