Right, that's the point of the HSA. HSA's don't expire every year, you just put money into them, keep the money, and have the option of taking it back out and paying taxes on it.
And at least in my state, $5000 is a high deductible--my provider offers a $5000 deductible plan with an HSA. You do end up paying more than $5k out of pocket before hitting the deductible since there's coinsurance and copays and shit like that, but keeping $10-15k in an HSA--knowing you still have full access to that money and it doesn't expire every year (and then perhaps topping it off every so often)--is not a bad plan.
A better solution would be to combine HSAs and 401ks, which many people already have, and allow tax-free withdrawals from the 401k to pay for qualified health-care expenses.
And at least in my state, $5000 is a high deductible--my provider offers a $5000 deductible plan with an HSA. You do end up paying more than $5k out of pocket before hitting the deductible since there's coinsurance and copays and shit like that, but keeping $10-15k in an HSA--knowing you still have full access to that money and it doesn't expire every year (and then perhaps topping it off every so often)--is not a bad plan.