If your organization offers an HSA-qualified health plan — OR you are planning to offer one in 2021 — this is a good time to help educate your employees on the value of health savings accounts (HSAs).
HSAs provide a great way to save for healthcare costs and to achieve triple tax savings, meaning these accounts are even more valuable from a tax perspective than 401(k) accounts.
With an HSA, you do not pay federal tax on:
1. Contributions to your account
2. Spending on qualified expenses
3. Interest that accrues to your account
To help your employees recognize the importance of HSAs, we have a number of educational pieces you can use to show them how to:
• Manage health-related out-of-pocket expenses
• Prepare for unexpected healthcare costs
• Plan and save for retirement
Videos, FAQs, tip sheets and an HSA Employee Guide are just some of the resources we can provide.
Here is a sample list of our educational pieces:
• HSA Email – Reasons to Consider an HSA
• VIDEO: What is an HSA
• 10 Reasons to Love a Health Savings Account
• 5 Tips to Maximize Your HSA
• VIDEO: All the Ways to Spend Your HSA
• Medicare Coverage and Health Savings Accounts
• HSA Employee Guide … OR: Interactive HSA Guide
The FSA/HSA Store also has a great little QUIZ (with prizes!) to help employees clearly see how they can benefit from tax-free healthcare accounts: https://fsastore.com/digital-open-enrollment
And…don’t forget these 6 HSA-approved purchases that can help reduce employee stress right now:
1. Telehealth for mental health and primary care
2. Alternative therapies
3. Sleep aids
4. Flu shots (if your health plan doesn’t already cover them)
5. Moisturizers
6. COBRA expenses
IRS Publication 502 has a full list of medical eligible expenses: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf
At Benefit Commerce Group, we can set up for our clients a customized HSA educational communication timeline: 12 months, 6 months or any other time period that works for the employer!
