Gov.-elect Scott Walker announced last week he intends to eliminate taxes on health savings accounts during a special session planned for his first day in office.

Walker’s plan to eliminate taxes on health savings accounts, or HSAs, is part of his larger initiative to undo health care reforms in Wisconsin that he describes as “Canadian-style programs that put bureaucrats in charge of personal health care decisions”.

Walker has already said he would authorize Attorney Gen. J.B. Van Hollen to join several other states in entering a lawsuit against the federal government over the health care reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama in March.

HSAs are individual medical savings accounts that are not subject to income taxes, except in Wisconsin and three other states. The savings can be used to pay for routine or preventative medical care covered under high deductible health plans, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Walker said in a statement HSAs would benefit the account holder more if they were not taxed.

“Employees and small businesses need to have the flexibility provided by HSAs, and there’s no reason they should be taxed,” he said. “This will make health care more affordable for folks who use HSAs.”

Although it will not fix health care, not taxing HSAs will make health care more affordable and increase the number of insured, said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican State Committee.

“In and of itself, it will not solve our health care crisis,” Jefferson said. “However, it is one of several things we can do to make health care more affordable.”

Walker’s plan will empower the consumer, which should create a more efficient health care system and better services, Jefferson said.

Walker’s plan to cut taxes on HSAs is expected to cost the Legislature between $4 million and $8 million, but Walker said the jobs created by making HSAs tax free will make up for the costs.

However, Walker’s plan to remove the taxes placed on HSAs has its critics.

Graeme Zielinski, a spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said eliminating taxes on HSAs will not do anything to improve health care costs in Wisconsin

“What Scott Walker is proposing is meaningless. It makes for a nice sound byte, but does not get to the heart of the issue which is affordability and access,” Zielinski said.

Zielinksi said the plan represents “hypocrisy” in Walker’s opposition to health care reform, calling on Walker and other Republicans to ditch their state provided health care for free market plans.

“Otherwise, they’re being hypocrites,” Zielinski said. “In the end, it’s about security, the security of knowing that if you get sick, it’s not going to bankrupt your family.”

The first step in Walker’s plan to undo health care reform in Wisconsin is intended to ease strains on small businesses and bring new companies to the state, but it is unclear how ending taxes on HSAs will affect most citizens.