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A summary of the articles included in the February 2020 edition:
- HSA Investment Menus Shouldn’t Just Replicate Those of DC Plans
- HSA Enrollment Rises Even As Full-Replacement Strategies Decline
- Balancing the Risks and Rewards of Saving Through an HSA
- Trends in Health Savings Account Balances, Contributions, Distributions, and Investments, 2011-2018: Estimates From the EBRI HSA Database
- To Treat or To Prevent? That Is (Still) the HSA Question
- Devenir Partners with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
HSA Investment Menus Shouldn’t Just Replicate Those of DC Plans
Investing health savings account (HSA) assets can help participants grow their balances for current and future health care expenses. Often plan sponsors mirror their defined contribution (DC) plan investment lineup in their HSAs, but a white paper from Devenir, a provider of customized investment solutions for HSAs and the consumer health care market, suggests this may not be the best strategy.
HSA Enrollment Rises Even As Full-Replacement Strategies Decline
In an earlier post on results from the 2019 Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, it was reported that some employers that had offered HDHPs with HSAs as the only type of medical plan reversed course and added traditional PPO or HMO plan options. While full-replacement strategies waned, Mercer saw no evidence that HSA plans are going away. Many employees who do the math at open enrollment find an HSA is a smart financial move.
Balancing the Risks and Rewards of Saving Through an HSA
Many employees now have two accounts that employers are encouraging them to contribute their hard earned money to: a 401(k) and a Health Savings Account (HSA). When deciding whether and how much to contribute, employees will consider things like the 401(k) match and their expected medical expenses. Employees with enough money can simply choose to take full advantage of both accounts. But for employees with more demands on their paychecks, choosing which account to fund is not a straightforward decision.
Trends in Health Savings Account Balances, Contributions, Distributions, and Investments, 2011-2018: Estimates From the EBRI HSA Database
Plan sponsors that wish to introduce or continue offering health savings account (HSA)-eligible health plans as part of their workplace benefit program can benefit from a long-term view of HSA account-holder behaviors. As such, the EBRI has undertaken a series of longitudinal studies from its HSA database, examining trends in account balances, individual and employer contributions, distributions, invested assets, and account-owner demographics from 2011-2018.
To Treat or To Prevent? That Is (Still) the HSA Question
This past summer, the IRS expanded the list of preventive care services that may be covered before the deductible is met without loss of HSA eligibility. The intent of the change was to give plan sponsors the flexibility to make HSAs work better for people diagnosed with chronic conditions. The Notice spelled out 14 services, items or drugs – “the List of 14” – that are now permissible when used to treat the corresponding chronic condition. Generally, this Notice was welcome news, a long-awaited answer to years of questions as to what is preventive care and what it is not. However, as many employers have begun incorporating some, most or all of the List of 14 into existing preventive prescription drug lists (“PDLs”), the Notice’s answers have yielded more questions.
Devenir Partners with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Devenir is excited to announce that we have partnered with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to supply info.HSAsearch.com, a powerful HSA provider search tool and comparison resource. Consumers have access to info.HSAsearch.com from the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHPs) & Health Savings Account (HSAs) page of HealthCare.gov, and HSA provider information is supplied in both English and Spanish.