| Read the latest news about Health Savings Accounts and consumer-driven health care. |
| News from Washington |
| Biden Signs Debt Ceiling Increase, Averting Default President Biden signed a bill raising the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, narrowly averting default on the nation’s debt. The action means that the U.S. will avoid default until at least 2023. The measure passed the Senate and House on Tuesday largely along party lines, sending it to Biden’s desk for his signature. Read More |
| Senate Wraps for the Year, Punting Build Back Better, Voting Rights The Senate wrapped up its work for the year, with Democrats punting work on Build Back Better and a debate over changing the rules into 2022. But leaving for the holidays officially punts both President Biden’s climate and social spending legislation and voting rights legislation, which would require a change in the Senate rules, into next year. The Senate will now return to Washington on January 3. Read More |
| US Health Spending Rose to Over $4 Trillion in 2020 Amid Pandemic Response The U.S. spent more than $4 trillion on health care for the first time in 2020, led by an increase in government spending in response to COVID-19. Private insurance spent 3.5 percent less on medical goods and services compared to 2019 as 2 million fewer people got insurance from work as a result of COVID-induced job cuts. Medicare also grew at a slower pace than the prior year. Read More |
| Rep. LaTurner Introduces Legislation to Remove Restrictions from Health Savings Accounts New legislation to simplify and remove restrictions from HSAs has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS). The legislation would simplify and expand HSAs and FSAs to allow workers to maintain financial control over their healthcare spending without tax penalties. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Scott (R-SC) are the lead sponsors of the Senate companion bill. Read More |
| For Kentucky Tornado Victims, IRS Extends 2021 Tax-Filing Deadline, Other Deadlines to May 16 Victims of this weekend’s tornadoes in Kentucky will have until May 16, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the IRS announced. Among other things, this means that affected taxpayers will have until May 16 to make 2021 IRA and HSA contributions. Read More |
| HSA Compliance Corner |
| Expert Q&A: Medicare’s 6-Month Lookback for HSA Contributions Older employees are working longer, and that can pose problems for employees over the age of 65 who contribute to an HSA during the six-month period before enrolling in Medicare, or whose employers made HSA contributions for them during this period. These workers can face unexpected tax penalties and the burden of reversing those contributions. Read More |
| HSA Industry News |
| SavingsOak Partners with Finch for an Innovative HSA Onboarding Experience SavingsOak has teamed up with Finch to provide a seamless HSA onboarding experience for small and midsize businesses. SavingsOak’s partnership with Finch makes it easier than ever for HR departments to systematically send HSA plan and census data, as well as ongoing payroll information to the SavingsOak HSA program directly from their company’s payroll system. Read More |
| HSA Industry Best Practices |
| 3 Ways to Make HSAs the Choice for Employees Why aren’t more employees selecting health savings accounts? The HSA’s overall financial package must look better than the employer’s next best plan offering and give the employee a reason to give the HSA a closer look. Here are three additional ways to help nudge workers into a health plan that features an HSA. Read More |
| The HSA Market |
| Employers Report Highest Annual Increase in Per-Employee Health Costs in Over a Decade The average per-employee cost of employer-sponsored health insurance jumped 6.3% in 2021, according to a new survey of employers from Mercer. That’s the highest annual increase since 2010. Mercer found cost growth in 2021 was more acute among smaller employers, with companies employing between 50 and 499 employees reporting 9.6% growth. Read More |
| Maximizing Your HSA |
| New to a Health Savings Account? Here Are Your Assembly Instructions! You’re new to a Health Savings Account. You’re not sure exactly what you need to do before January 1. Perhaps you’ve received a guide already that shows you the benefits of these powerful financial accounts. But those pamphlets often don’t list the simple steps that you need to take to set yourself up for instant and long-term financial success. Here’s your quick-start guide to a Health Savings Account. Read More |
| Self-Only Contract Means Only Your Expenses Are Qualified? Nope! Family members don’t have to be covered on the HSA-qualified plan for their qualified expenses to be reimbursed tax-free. If the expense is qualified, the date of service is on or after the day that the HSA was established, and it’s incurred by one of the family members listed above, the withdrawal is tax-free. Read More |
| Consumer-Driven Health Care |
| Updates on FSA and HSA Accounts If you put pre-tax money in accounts to pay medical or dependent care expenses, here are some changes you should be aware of for 2022. Legislation enacted in response to COVID-19 tweaked rules for FSAs. Instead of losing those funds at the end of the year, employers can modify their plans to allow workers to carry over unused funds through 2022. If you have an HSA, relax–there’s no deadline to use funds in the account. Read More |
| 17% of Americans Spent More Than $1,500 on Healthcare This Year. Here’s How to Save for Medical Costs In a recent Aflac survey, 17% of American households said they spent more than $1,500 on healthcare expenses over the past 12 months. And 30% spent between $500 and $1,500. It’s important to have money on hand to pay for medical bills to avoid having them become a source of debt — and stress. Here are three accounts worth considering for this purpose. Read More |