Here's a snip-it from an article on the cover of today's Wall Street Journal. Interesting to note that a CEO took a 5 months off to thru-hike.. (wish I could get that much time off)
In 1992, the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, published a book called "Patient Power" that offered the high-deductible plans as a counterproposal to President Clinton's proposal for universal health care. A few years later, Congress created something called the Archer Medical Savings Account, which certain small businesses could use in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance plan.
"Patient Power" gave Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey, who considers himself a libertarian, the idea for how he might overhaul his company's health insurance. In 2002, he took a five-month sabbatical to hike the Appalachian Trail. At various stops during his amble northward from Georgia, a car would arrive at a designated stop where the trail crossed a road. Someone would restock him with food and hand over a laptop so he could catch up with e-mail.
At one stop, Mr. Mackey got the news that the Treasury Department had issued a new regulation that would make it easier for companies to adopt consumer-driven plans. The government had confirmed that health-cost-reimbursement accounts, like the one Whole Foods uses in conjunction with its health plan, would be shielded from taxes and that employees could carry the balance over from year to year. Unlike some medical savings plans, the one used by Whole Foods doesn't allow employees to add tax-free contributions to the company payments.