| News from Washington |
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| Democrats’ ‘Long-Shot’ Healthcare Package Abruptly Fails in Last-Ditch Effort A last-ditch effort to pass a bipartisan healthcare package pushed aside at the end of 2024 that includes telehealth extensions and pharmacy benefit manager reform, reverses doc pay cuts and addresses the opioid crisis failed. It was a last-ditch effort destined to fail, with all focus on the Senate’s attempts to pass a government funding stopgap bill. Read More |
| IRS: West Virginia Storm Victims Qualify for Tax Relief; Various Deadlines Postponed to November 3 The IRS announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in parts of West Virginia affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides that began on February 15, 2025. These taxpayers now have until November 3 to file various federal individual and business tax returns, make tax payments, and make 2024 contributions to their IRAs and HSAs. Read More |
| ACA Changes Could Impact Employer Plans, Individual Coverage Reimbursements The federal agency that oversees the ACA exchange system, has proposed the first major set of draft regulations released since Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. For employers and their benefits advisors, the new draft regulations could affect efforts to use small-group exchange plan coverage or help workers with individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements use the ICHRAs to sign up for individual health coverage. Read More |
| HSA Studies & Analysis |
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| House Passes Bill to Expand Coverage for Chronic Conditions on HSA-Qualified Plans The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that codifies guidance issued by the IRS in 2019 permitting insurers and employers to cover certain drugs, tests, and equipment associated with 14 specific diagnoses of chronic conditions. A far better option would be to give insurers and employers more flexibility to determine for themselves which treatments were effective enough in managing chronic conditions to warrant paying most or all the cost of the prescription, test, or equipment. Read More |
| Compliance Corner |
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| An HRA? Red Flag for HSA Eligibility. A Post-Deductible HRA? An Employee’s Friend. A Post-Deductible Health Reimbursement Arrangement is a second form of coverage under the tax code. As long as the HRA’s deductible is higher than the statutory minimum annual deductible (3,300 in 2025) and doesn’t cover any non-preventive care below the deductible, you can contribute up to the statutory maximum to your HSA. Read More |
| Best Practices |
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| The Unexpected Perks of an HSA: 3 Things HR Needs to Tell Employees HR professionals can help employees make the most of their HSA—and reduce confusion and “noise”—by educating them about the unexpected perks of this tax-advantaged account. Here are three simple things HR teams can do throughout the year to improve HSA utilization and satisfaction. Read More |
| The Importance of Leveraging Technology to Improve Financial Wellness Despite the growing emphasis on outcomes, barriers still exist when it comes to getting participants to utilize financial wellness programs and leverage technology. Although 94% of employers reported in a recent survey that they are responsible for their employees’ financial well-being, only 57% actually do something about it. Read More |
| The Moneyball Approach to Employee Benefits: Using Wins Above Replacement to Maximize Value Recent data from the 2024 KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey show that HDHPs with HSAs have significantly lower premiums compared to traditional PPO plans, yet they often deliver higher perceived value through tax advantages and flexibility. Offering an HDHP with an HSA might create more employee satisfaction than a traditional plan with richer benefits but higher costs. Read More |
| Market Trends |
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| Thought Inflation Was Bad? Health Insurance Premiums Are Rising Even Faster Health insurance premiums in California’s private sector nearly doubled over the last 15 years, an analysis of federal data shows. That’s more than twice the rate of inflation. Also, employees have had to absorb a growing share of the cost. The spike is not confined to California. And premiums continued to grow rapidly in 2024. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
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| Potential Long-Term Benefits of Investing Your HSA HSAs are not only a tax-smart way to pay for your current health care needs, but you could also rely on your savings—and any potential growth from investing HSA dollars—in your retirement. Account holders who don’t invest their excess HSA contributions could be missing an opportunity to earn tax-free returns. Here’s how you can contribute to your HSA and get started with investing your account. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
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| The Prescription Drug Gender Divide: Women Spent Over $8.5 Billion More Than Men in 2024 Women in the U.S. are shouldering a greater out-of-pocket burden for healthcare than men. New data shows that women consistently spend nearly 30% more out of pocket. This price gap is driven by higher healthcare utilization and the financial burden of female-specific treatments. The costs of care are unavoidable and accumulate over a lifetime. Read More |