| News from Washington |
| Biden Signs $1.5 Trillion Government Funding Bill With Ukraine Aid President Biden has signed into law a sweeping $1.5 trillion bill that funds the government through September and provides billions in assistance for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. After months of negotiations, the final text of the funding bill was introduced just last week and moved quickly through the House and Senate, where it passed with bipartisan support. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| Moving from HSA Plan to Medicare? Beware the Six-Month Retro Rule! Most HSA owners know that once they enroll in Medicare, they can no longer fund their account. But most Americans don’t understand how Medicare really works. That’s unfortunate because a key provision of Medicare coverage may disqualify them from contributing to an HSA up to six months prior to what they believe is their effective date of Medicare coverage. Here’s how that can happen. Read More |
| HSA Industry Best Practices |
| How to Maximize HDHPs and HSAs to Save Costs, Promote Health and Retain Talent 41% of employees with large national employers (500+ employees) enrolled in HSA-qualifying HDHPs in 2021. Implemented properly and thoughtfully, HDHPs along with employer-funded HSAs are a powerful tool to retain talent, increase savings for both employers and employees, and offer an affordable coverage option to employees. Employers can create an HDHP/HSA to be a rich (or lean) option through a variety of levers that can increase employee engagement and satisfaction. Read More |
| The HSA Market |
| 95% of Consumer-Directed Health Plans Cover Primary and Mental Telehealth Before a Deductible, AHIP Study Finds According to a study by America’s Health Insurance Plans, about 72 million Americans receive health coverage under a CDHP (high-deductible plan with an HSA). CDHPs have taken advantage of flexibilities provided in 2020 by covering many physical and mental telehealth services on a pre-deductible basis. No plans reported excluding any remote-appropriate service claims from being processed pre-deductible. Read More |
| Health Plans Face Decisions Over Preventive Screenings Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act, non-grandfathered private health plans must cover certain preventive services given a rating of “A” or “B” by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force without cost-sharing, within certain guidelines. Issues remain around coverage, however, including whether plans should pay the full costs of newer tests that have not received the task force’s A or B rating, or provide full coverage of advanced follow-up testing after initial diagnostic exams indicate a problem. Read More |
| EBRI: HDHPs Save Money, but May Discourage Care New research on high deductible health plans has found that they do result in more cost-conscious decisions from enrollees and save money for their employer-sponsored health plans—but at the same time may be discouraging enrollees from utilizing care. The good news/bad news quality of the studies from the Employee Benefit Research Institute fits with other research that suggests HDHPs may lead consumers to avoid care due to cost concerns. Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
| HSA: A Healthy Way to Save for Retirement Many expenses in life are unpredictable. But there are two things you know you’ll have to pay for: medical bills and retirement. You’ll probably need to take a variety of steps to meet these costs, but one financial instrument that can help is a Health Savings Account. If you’re not familiar with an HSA, here are the basics. If you have access to one, consider taking advantage of it. Read More |
| HSA Retirement Tips And Strategies Use your HSA, if you have one, as another tool in your toolkit while planning for retirement. To start, you can max out the contribution amount for each year that you’re able. If your employer offers a match on your HSA, try to contribute enough to meet that match. While your IRA or 401(k) account is subject to a required minimum distribution (RMD) once you hit 72, HSA accounts are not. Read More |
| How Advisors Can Help Reposition HSAs This Tax Season The 2022 tax season is officially underway and now is the time for Americans to increase their health savings by maximizing their HSA contributions. Advisors can play a crucial role in helping their clients understand how to maximize their tax savings through their HSAs by helping to reposition HSAs as long-term investment savings vehicles. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| What Is an HSA? How to Get the Most Benefit From Your Health Savings Account Wading through health insurance options when starting a new job or during open enrollment can be confusing. The alphabet soup of terminologies sure doesn’t help. This article demystifies some of that medical insurance jargon and explain the benefits, rules and nuances of health savings accounts so you can make the best decision for yourself and your family. Read More |
| 5 Things to Know About HSAs If your tax bill for this year already has you looking for ways to trim what you owe Uncle Sam in 2023, you may want to consider the benefits of an HSA. An HSA enables you to lower your federal taxable income by setting aside pre-tax money to pay for qualified medical expenses not covered by your health plan. Here are several important things to remember for taking full advantage of this type of account. Read More |
| There’s Still Time to Contribute to an IRA or an HSA for 2021. Why It Makes Sense to Do So Now If you didn’t put the maximum amount of money into an Individual Retirement Account or Health Savings Account last year, you still have about one month to do so for 2021. The deadline for 2021 contributions is April 18, 2022, the same day individual tax returns are due. For those who can afford it, saving for a previous tax year in these accounts makes a lot of sense. Read More |
| The Ides of March Have Come and Gone. That Was Easy for HSA Owners! Unlike many of their co-workers enrolled in Health FSAs, HSA owners don’t fear March 15 and March 31 because of differences in the structures of the two accounts. HSA owners face no deadlines because their account is timeless. They don’t have to schedule non-urgent services in periods in which plan years overlap. And they don’t have to respond to time-sensitive requests to provide proper documentation of their expenses. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| How to Avoid Surprise Bills — And the Pitfalls in the New Law Patients are no longer required to pay for out-of-network care given without their consent when they receive treatment at hospitals covered by their health insurance since a federal law took effect at the start of this year. But the law’s protections against surprise medical bills may be only as good as a patient’s knowledge — and ability to make sure those protections are enforced. Here’s what you need to know. Read More |