| News from Washington |
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| DOL Files to Pause Appeal of Fiduciary Rule Department of Labor filed a motion in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to hold its appeals in two court cases about the DOL’s fiduciary rule, saying the new administration and agency officials need time to onboard and familiarize themselves with the cases. DOL noted that the opposing parties do not oppose the motion. Read More |
| ERISA Industry Committee Outlines Latest Employer Priorities The ERISA Industry Committee sent a letter to members of Congress stating its positions on several policy issues that affect large employer member companies. ERIC’s letter mainly focuses on health care-related issues, such as enhancing high-deductible health plans and HSAs and creating more transparency about the cost of health care and prescription drugs. Read More |
| Congress Takes Another Crack at Helping Patients Receive Optimal Primary Care U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) recently introduced the Direct Medical Care Freedom Act of 2025, a measure that would give Americans more control over their medical dollars and treatment by eliminating a conflict between direct primary care and HSAs. What’s this issue all about? Let’s take a quick look. Read More |
| Federal Bill Introduced to Expand Access to HSAs U.S. Reps. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Kat Cammack (R-FL) introduced legislation that seeks to expand access to HSAs by giving individuals the option to receive direct contributions to an HSA instead of relying on reduced cost-sharing under government-run health insurance exchanges through the Affordable Care Act. Read More |
| House Bill Could Let Workers Pay for Toothpaste with FSAs and HSAs A new House bill would let FSA and HSA holders use the accounts to pay for over-the-counter oral health products. If the bill passes, workers could use FSA money or HSA money to pay for items such as toothpaste, ordinary toothbrushes and expensive electric toothbrushes. Read More |
| Benefits Broker Tells Congress About Small Employers’ Health Coverage Cost Pain Marcie Strouse, a partner at Capitol Benefits Group, testified at a House Ways and Means health subcommittee hearing on the U.S. health care system. Strouse called for letting workers combine HSAs with any type of health coverage and for increasing the maximum HSA contribution limits to be in line with health plan annual out-of-pocket spending limits. Read More |
| Trump Orders Creation of MAHA Commission With RFK Jr. As Chair President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating a commission to study and report on chronic diseases among children. Health insurance is mentioned just once in the policy directives part of the executive order. Federal agencies should ensure availability of expanded treatment options and the flexibility “for health insurance coverage to provide benefits that support beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention,” says the order. Read More |
| Compliance Corner |
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| The HSA Contribution Rules: Part II In general, there are different HSA contribution limits based on employee-only vs. family coverage, whether the employee is age 55+, and the number of months in the year for which the individual is HSA-eligible. There is also a special rule referred to as the last-month rule that provides additional options for those gaining HSA-eligibility mid-year. Read More |
| You Can Defer Your Distributions Indefinitely to Leverage The Full Benefits of an HSA Unlike a Health FSA, you face no deadline for reimbursing qualified expenses tax-free from an HSA. You can reimburse today’s qualified expenses today, next month, next year, or decades from now. This flexibility is one of the most important benefits of an HSA. You can use your HSA as either a reimbursement account or an emergency savings account. Read More |
| About Claiming Social Security When I Have an HSA I’m afraid that what you’ve read is correct — it is mandatory for you to take Medicare Part A when receiving Social Security benefits after age 65, even though Medicare Part A is free to you. That does, however, also mean your HSA will be affected because, as you have found, Medicare will backdate your Part A coverage by 6 months. Read More |
| HSA Industry News |
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| InComm Benefits Introduces Cash Back for HSAs InComm Benefits announced that its HSA solution will offer 2% Cash Back on all eligible transactions. This marks the first time that an HSA will offer Cash Back, encouraging account holders to use their HSA card so they avoid missing eligible expenses and get more value from their employer-sponsored benefits. Read More |
| Lynx Secures $27M to Simplify Healthcare Payments Lynx, a fintech platform for healthcare payments, has raised $27 million in Series A funding to scale its operations, the company recently announced. The financing will help the company grow to ensure it is meeting the needs of the largest health plans and financial institutions in the space, according to co-founder and CEO, Matthew Renfro. Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
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| Worried About Your Tax Bill? Try This to Save Money and Boost Your Retirement Savings Tax season is upon us once again, and some Americans will find they didn’t pay enough during 2024. It’s not always possible to avoid this situation, but you may still be able to reduce your tax liability for 2024 and increase your retirement savings at the same time. Your options include making a contribution to your IRA and/or your HSA, if you are eligible. Read More |
| $1M in HSA Is a Rosy Projection. But Smaller Savings Still Pay Off The goal of amassing $1 million in an HSA by retirement will elude the vast majority of clients, but financial advisors could still put these optimistic projections to good use. Advisors can nudge clients toward saving in their HSA with a wealth of statistical estimates showing their massive health care needs in retirement and the corresponding potential of the accounts as a savings vehicle, experts say. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
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| How to Become a Millionaire With a Health Savings Account It’s possible to amass $1 million in an HSA to use in retirement, a new analysis finds. However, you have to start young, contribute the maximum each year and leave the money untouched for decades instead of spending it on medical needs. HSAs are a valuable tool to save for health needs later in life, including costs that aren’t covered by Medicare. Read More |
| Want to Move HSA Balances? You Can Make Unlimited Trustee-to-Trustee Transfers Trustee-to-trustee transfers have two distinct advantages over rollovers. First, you never take possession of the funds, so you don’t face the risk of failing to redeposit the funds within 60 days. Second, you can move balances an unlimited number of times. If you want to shift funds more than once annually, trustee-to-trustee transfers are your only option. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
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| Direct Primary Care: An Alternative Way to Curb Health Care Costs With a potential 41% increase in per-person health care spending over the next decade, employers are investigating alternative ways of providing health care for employees. One alternative gaining traction among employers is a combination of a direct primary care model and supplementary insurance policies, offering a more flexible and cost-effective approach to employee health care. Read More |
| New Study: 42% of American Women Skip Essential Preventive Care A new survey reveals a concerning gap in women’s preventive healthcare, with 42% of American women forgoing essential services in the past year. The comprehensive study, which surveyed 3,199 women aged 18 and older, highlights critical barriers to care and emerging trends in how women access health information. Read More |