| News from Washington |
| IRS Announces Tax Relief for Taxpayers Impacted by Storms and Flooding in Massachusetts; Various Deadlines Postponed to July 31 The Internal Revenue Service announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in parts of Massachusetts affected by severe storms and flooding that began on September 11, 2023.These taxpayers now have until July 31, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns, make payments, and make 2023 contributions to their IRAs and HSAs. Read More |
| HSA Studies & Analysis |
| Cost-Sharing Is Key to Choosing Traditional Plans, HDHPs and HSAs, Say Employees Although employees weigh a number of factors when making benefits decisions, cost remains the overriding factor. Satisfaction with the affordability of health plans is down this year compared to last year, regardless of plan type. Still, most enrollees don’t spend a lot of time on health plan choices. HSAs are a key area where employers can have an impact. Read More |
| Should HSA Contribution Limits Rise to the Statutory MOOP? A bill before Congress proposes raising Health Savings Account contribution limits to the statutory out-of-pocket maximum. Is this good policy? If so, under what circumstances? Let’s look at the pros and cons, then examine some proposals that put HSAs in the middle of approaches to change the way that we as a society deliver and fund medical care. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| Where the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule Intersects with HSAs HSAs haven’t received much attention in context of the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule. However, the DOL was intentional in making sure that advice given around HSAs is fiduciary. And it could apply to advisors who focus on retirement plans and increasingly are giving a range of services that cover health and wealth. Read More |
| Best Practices |
| Empower Women Employees to Manage Their Health with Tax-Free Funds To ensure that your organization is fully supporting the needs of women employees, start by examining your health plan coverage for things like fertility treatments and family planning, hormone replacement therapies, and more. Then, make sure you offer supplemental benefits like an FSA or HSA to help women employees and eligible dependents achieve their health goals by bridging the gaps in your health plan coverage. Read More |
| Doubling Down on Ongoing Benefits-Focused Financial Education for Employees Americans now feel they need a record $1.46 million of savings to retire comfortably. However, almost half of U.S. households had no savings in retirement accounts. This trend is not new, but it is worsening to an alarming degree. Americans are neither saving enough for retirement nor taking full advantage of their workplace benefits. What can employers do to help? Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
| HSAs ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Helping Retirees HSAs, which have been around for two decades, “are not widely known,” but that appears to be changing. Since 2020, just over half of those with HSAs had opened them after 2020, and they hold 37% of investment assets. HSAs are gaining recognition as a component of overall retirement readiness, becoming a “Swiss army knife” of benefit planning products. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| How an HSA Can Support Your Employees’ Mental Health There are a variety of ways you can promote mental health in the office, and one way is to provide benefits that support your employees’ needs. For example, your employees can use their HSA to improve their financial wellness and save money on a variety of mental health-related expenses. Let’s walk through the HSA eligibility of these expenses. Read More |
| How to Use an HSA to Save for Retirement Millions of Americans either have or are eligible for HSAs, but many fail to take full advantage of their provisions. Too many employees are missing out on immediate tax benefits as well as the opportunity to build additional savings for retirement. To use your HSA as a valuable retirement planning tool, follow these four steps. Here’s how to put each of these strategies into action. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| Most Hospitals Not in Compliance with Federal Price Transparency Rules A uniform system of price transparency has long been sought by consumer groups and purchasers of health care, but it has proven very difficult to actually achieve. After three years, only 34.5% of 2,000 U.S. hospitals reviewed were in compliance, a report has found. If anything, hospitals are going backwards—36% were in compliance in last year’s study by the group. Read More |