| Read the latest news about Health Savings Accounts and consumer-driven health care. |
| News from Washington |
| Democrats Face Time Crunch as They Race to Finalize Biden Plan Democrats are hitting a make-or-break week in their ambitious effort to pass President Biden’s climate and social spending bill by Christmas. Democrats have just 10 days to meet their self-imposed deadline and face growing headaches that could prevent them from meeting their goal. Read More |
| Stakeholder Groups Urge Congress to Extend Pre-Deductible Telehealth Coverage Numerous stakeholder groups are urging Congress to address the impending expiration of pandemic-related relief allowing HSA-qualified health plans to cover telehealth and other remote care services on a pre-deductible basis. The current relief expires at the end of 2021 for calendar-year plans. While there are bipartisan bills pending in both chambers to extend the relief, the crammed year-end legislative calendar means action on the issue may not come until next year. Read More |
| HSA Studies & Analysis |
| Telemedicine Draws Rave Reviews from Users, According to EBRI’s Annual Survey According to the 17th annual “Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey” by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research, individuals with HSAs use these accounts in a way that best suits their perceived needs. Many survey respondents mentioned they would be more likely to accumulate and invest unused funds if they were provided an annual review of their HSA balance. Read More |
| Devenir Credit Union HSA Update: 9/30/2021 According to Devenir, total HSA assets held at credit unions totaled $2.09 billion as of 9/30/21, up 7.5% year-over-year. There were 859 credit unions holding HSA assets as of 9/30/21 (17% of credit unions), up from 843 credit unions three years ago. There were 49 credit unions that each held at least $10 million in HSA assets as of 9/30/21. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| Is an HRA Compatible with a Health Savings Account? Depends on Design. A Health Reimbursement Arrangement is usually disqualifying coverage. But not always. The rule of thumb is that anyone who receives funds from a HRA is disqualified from opening or funding an HSA. But there is a common HRA design that’s not disqualifying. Learn more about why a company might want to integrate an HRA with an HSA-qualified plan. Read More |
| HSA Industry News |
| HealthEquity to Acquire Health Savings Administrators HealthEquity announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Health Savings Administrators to transition the custody of its HSA portfolio to HealthEquity. HealthSavings and HealthEquity are working closely to coordinate an in-kind transfer of most of the invested assets. The transition of HealthSavings’ HSAs to the HealthEquity platform is expected to be completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2023. Read More |
| The HSA Market |
| Non-Group Purchasers Aren’t Choosing Coverage with Added Tax Benefits Products available in government-run marketplaces have high deductibles and usually impose coinsurance on the cost of care above the deductible. People covered on these plans face high out-of-pocket costs when they receive care. They would benefit from a Health Savings Account that permitted them to pay for their care with pre-tax funds. But only 7% of marketplace enrollees chose HSA-qualified plans in 2020. Read More |
| HSAs & Retirement |
| The Highest Medical Costs to Expect in Retirement Paying for medical care is a major consideration when transitioning into retirement. Some health related expenses are simple to predict and can be factored into your budget. However, health care costs can also be unexpected, and paying the resulting bills can be challenging. Here are some of the highest medical costs to expect in retirement and how to plan for them. Read More |
| How to Plan for Medical Expenses in Retirement Despite saving and preparing their entire working lives, many people aren’t mentally or financially prepared for the high cost of medical expenses in retirement. If you’re not yet enrolled in Medicare, you can save money for retirement health care costs with an HSA. Those already in their 50s can still maximize these plans by taking advantage of catch-up contributions and employer contributions. Read More |
| Enrolling in Medicare? These HSA Decisions are Crucial Among the assortment of topics that require attention around the time you retire is the Health Savings Account. If you are contributing to an HSA and contemplating enrolling in Medicare at 65 or later, be mindful of the rules surrounding each. Doing so will allow you to retire with greater confidence. Read More |
| HSAs and Estate Planning During your lifetime, an HSA can be a very effective savings tool for funding medical expenses. It would seem that funding an HSA is a no-brainer. However, large HSAs can often become liabilities in the context of estate planning when proper forethought and care is not given to understanding how an HSA-inheritance is structured from a tax perspective. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| How Much Should You Really Save to Your HSA? Since you can use your HSA funds tax-free for medical expenses now and in retirement, the right HSA contribution level depends on multiple factors. Three of those factors are what you spend on medical expenses today, your family medical history, and your expected life span. Here’s a quick-and-dirty framework for estimating an appropriate annual HSA contribution. Read More |
| No, You Do Not Have to Spend Your HSA Money by the End of the Year With the end of the year just a few weeks away, it’s time to get your finances ready for the New Year. So do you need to spend all the money in your health savings account, or else you will lose it? No, you do not have to spend your health savings account money by the end of the year. Read More |
| The One Account That Every Millennial Should Consider Health costs are inflating between 6% and 7%. The average millennial often feels bulletproof and rarely worries about future health costs. But time remains undefeated, and one day these costs will demand your attention. The HSA may very well be the most powerful tax shelter, pound-for-pound, in the United States. Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible to contribute to an HSA. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| HSA vs. FSA: What’s the Difference? FSAs and HSAs have a lot in common. They’re both pre-tax accounts that you contribute money to, which you then use to cover healthcare costs. But they don’t work exactly the same way. While it might seem like HSAs have a clear edge over FSAs, choosing the best one depends on personal factors. Read More |
| More Than Half of U.S. Hospitals Don’t Follow Pricing Disclosure Rules More than half of all hospitals in the United States did not comply with new pricing disclosure rules in the first five months since they were implemented, a study published Thursday by the Journal of General Internal Medicine found. Across all 50 states, 55% of hospitals did not comply with the new federal rule that went into effect on January 1, the researchers said. Read More |