| News from Washington |
| DOL, White House Unveil Latest Fiduciary Proposal to Cover One-Time Rollover Advice The Department of Labor unveiled a new proposed rule to revise the term “fiduciary” and require rollover advice be in the best interest of the saver. The rule would change the fiduciary definition by removing the “regular basis” prong of the five-part test used to determine when a financial professional is considered an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA. The move would lead one-time rollover advice to fall under the fiduciary definition if the other parts of the test are met. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| Drug Copay Accumulator Programs: A Many-Sided Argument The role of drug manufacturer financial assistance will continue to be debated. Some see assistance as helping members stay on physician-directed therapy while others feel they keep prices high for everyone. To the extent a new law or regulation requires third-party assistance to count toward the member’s deductible and OOP maximum, that would impact the viability of copay accumulators. Read More |
| HSA Industry News |
| First Dollar Earns IRS Approval as Nonbank Trustee First Dollar announced its approval by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonbank trustee for Health Savings Accounts. This designation broadens First Dollar’s capacity to provide partners with greater flexibility and more robust compliance capabilities for HSAs. Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
| 1 Fantastic Retirement Savings Account You’ll Wish You’d Heard of Sooner There are different retirement savings plans, such as a 401(k) plan or IRA, that you can use to set yourself up with funds for the future. But there’s another retirement savings account you may not have heard of due to the fact that it’s not a retirement plan in the traditional sense of the word. However, it can very easily serve as a retirement account — and a very helpful one at that. Read More |
| 4 Surprising HSA Benefits That All Retirees Should Know The HSA is not just a tax-advantaged way to budget for healthcare expenses – it is one of the most powerful and underappreciated financial tools that exist today. If you’re eligible for an HSA, you should absolutely consider taking advantage of one. Here are four things that you need to keep in mind when deciding how to contribute to and spend money from your account. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| 1 in 5 Americans Has This Plan for an HSA — and It’s a Good One A good 20% of HSA account owners say they’re contributing to their accounts in order to invest the money to have on hand for healthcare expenses in retirement. And that’s a really smart decision. If you want to enjoy the maximum benefit an HSA can provide, then you should really try to leave your balance alone and let it grow in a tax-advantaged manner. Read More |
| Confused About Health-Savings Accounts? Here’s What to Know Many people don’t understand all of the benefits an HSA can offer, in part because they confuse them with FSAs. They think the money in an HSA has to be used in a given year, or soon after. It doesn’t. They don’t realize that if they start an HSA early in their working life, fund it consistently and invest the money well, it can help them when medical bills arrive in retirement. Here are answers to frequently asked questions about HSAs. Read More |
| An Open-Enrollment Dilemma for Some: HSA or Health FSA? Health Savings Accounts and Health FSAs have some important immediate similarities. But HSAs are a permanent account with additional flexibility and a long time horizon. If you can enroll in either program, you are fortunate. That good fortune, however, comes with some additional responsibility to evaluate which plan better fits your situation. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| When That Supposedly Free Annual Physical Generates a Bill Christine Rogers was surprised when she received a bill for her annual wellness check-up which is typically covered without patient cost sharing as preventive care under the Affordable Care Act. But there is a catch: Not all care that may be provided during a wellness visit counts as no-cost preventive care under federal guidelines. Read More |