| News from Washington |
| IRS Announces Tax Relief for Taxpayers Impacted by Severe Storms and Tornadoes in Tennessee The Internal Revenue Service announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in parts of Tennessee affected by severe storms and tornadoes that began on December 9, 2023. These taxpayers now have until June 17, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns, make tax payments, and make 2023 contributions to IRAs and HSAs. Read More |
| DOL Fiduciary Rule Comments Number 14,000+ as Opposing Views Harden Federal regulators are releasing a steady trickle of the more than 14,000 public comments on the Department of Labor’s contentious fiduciary rule proposal. DOL officials steadfastly refused to extend the comment period or defer the public hearing until comments were made public. The last two proposed rules ended up in court after industry trade associations brought lawsuits. Read More |
| DOL Denies Second Request for More Time on Fiduciary Rule Comments The Labor Department has once again denied a request to extend the deadline for comments on its new fiduciary rule proposal — this time from lawmakers. In a December 21 letter, 7 Senate Democrats urged Labor to lengthen the comment period. However, a spokesperson said that Labor “does not, at this time, intend to extend the comment period” beyond January 2. Read More |
| HSA Studies & Analysis |
| Overlooked No More: 7 Ways This Account Could Supercharge Retirement Readiness According to a new analysis published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute based on research it conducted in partnership with TIAA, consumer adoption of HSAs is directly associated with greater retirement preparedness, especially when HSA assets are invested over the long term. Here are some highlights from the firms’ research that underscore HSAs’ potential. Read More |
| Survey Highlights the Role That HSAs Can Play in Affordability A new survey shows that Americans are having more and more difficulty affording the cost of coverage and care. Used correctly, HSAs can reduce the net cost of care by 20% to 38%, regardless of the circumstances. In a world of tight budgets and trade-offs between medical care and other essential expenses, that difference can help people receive the care that they need. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| How Embedded Deductibles Work on HSA-qualified Plans If you’re an employee (or buyer in the nongroup market), understand how your deductible works. There are two types of deductibles — “embedded” and “aggregate” — and the difference in these two types may mean thousands of dollars spent or saved. Let’s dive into this important topic. Read More |
| HSA Industry News |
| Millennium Trust Acquires Maestro Health’s Consumer Directed Benefits Business PayFlex, a Millennium Trust solution, has acquired the Maestro Health consumer directed benefits business from TPA technology company Marpai. The deal represents one of Millennium Trust’s key capabilities in health and benefits, reflecting the company’s rapid expansion in consumer directed benefits following recent acquisitions of BRI and ProFlex earlier this year. Read More |
| Flexible Health Spending: Binkey Rewind’s FSA/HSA Reimbursement Program Binkey provides a service that makes it easy for consumers to pay with FSA and HSA cards and use insurance so merchants and financial institutions can optimize customer satisfaction. Binkey offers convenience to merchants and financial institutions that accept FSA card payments and process HSA cards. The platform’s AI authentication helps customers identify eligible products. Read More |
| HSA Best Practices |
| Starting a New Job in 2024? 3 Retirement Moves to Make Now Learning the ropes of a new job may be top of mind, but don’t forget to think about how this move will affect your retirement strategy as well. Try to find some time within the next couple of weeks or months to do the following three things. For example, ask about the health insurance plan to determine whether you might be eligible to take advantage of an HSA. Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
| Your 401(k) Maxed Out? Here’s How to Invest for Retirement Now A 401(k) is one of the top ways to save for retirement, but where else can high-octane savers invest after maxing out their 401(k)? Even if you’re not one of those savers, financial advisors say some smart strategies can help you make the most of what you have. Here are the accounts to replenish your savings, according to experts — and the best order to do so. Read More |
| 3 Things You Can Do Now to Pay Less Tax in Retirement Many seniors experience a drop in income once they enter retirement. That could make any tax bill you face quite stressful. So it’s a good idea to do what you can ahead of time to minimize your tax burden as a retiree. One move is to contribute to an HSA while you can and leave your balance untouched until retirement. Read More |
| Year-End Financial To-Do: If You Are 65 or Older, Make Sure You Check on IRMAA If you are planning to or are already enrolled in Medicare, the standard monthly premium increased to $174.70 for Part B for 2024. Premium costs for Part D depend on the plan you selected. However, both Part B and Part D premium costs are impacted by how much income you have. That is where “IRMAA” comes into play. However, an HSA can help avoid IRMAA. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| 3 Things You Need to Know Before Stashing Money in an HSA in 2024 Whether you have medical expenses coming up or you’re just looking for a tax-advantaged place to put your retirement savings, an HSA can be a great tool. But like any tool, you need to understand how it works if you want to put it to best use. Here are three things you need to know before contributing to an HSA in 2024. Read More |
| 3 HSA Rules to Follow in 2024 If you’ll be participating in an HSA in 2024, it’s important to make the most of your account and know exactly how it works. HSAs are a super useful savings tool because of the multiple tax benefits they offer. With that in mind, here are three rules to follow. Keep these rules in mind so that you can maximize your HSA in the new year and avoid running into issues. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| U.S. Healthcare System Braces for More Tough Times as Disruptors Continue Their March to Reform Patient-consumers are growing increasingly exasperated with healthcare delivery as we know it and are demanding better. Meanwhile, retail disruptors are capitalizing on mounting frustrations by continuing to dismantle a broken and failing fee-for-service payment model. One major impetus for disruptive change has been greater demand for transparency. Read More |