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A summary of the articles included in the March 2024 edition:
- BofA Report Finds 401(k) Account Balances Increased by 15% in 2023, Health Savings Account Balances Increased by 11%
- Do State Mandates Disqualify HSA-qualified Medical Plans?
- EBRI 2023 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey
- Report: Most Americans Don’t Know How Much Their Health Care Costs
- Yes, a Spouse’s General Health FSA Affects Your HSA Eligibility
- Tax season: Important HSA Considerations the Workforce Should Know
BofA Report Finds 401(k) Account Balances Increased by 15% in 2023, Health Savings Account Balances Increased by 11%
Bank of America released its fourth quarter 2023 Participant Pulse, which found that average 401(k) account balances rose 15% to $86,280 in 2023, increasing from $75,045 at the end of 2022, due to a combination of participants contributing higher amounts to their plans, and increases in the value of investments. Nearly 18% of 401(k) plan participants increased their contribution rates last quarter, up from just over 9% who did so in the third quarter. In addition, year-end 2023 Health Savings Account balances increased 11% over the prior year.
Do State Mandates Disqualify HSA-qualified Medical Plans?
States have primary responsibility for regulating medical coverage. Their decisions can disqualify enrollees on plans governed by the state from opening and funding a Health Savings Account.
As medical care becomes more expensive and more patients are enrolled in coverage with high out-of-pocket costs, state lawmakers and regulators are increasingly receptive to requiring insurers to cover more benefits, often with little or no patient cost-sharing. These laws may reduce some patients’ financial responsibility, but they may simultaneously make it more difficult for other patients to afford the medical care that they need.
EBRI 2023 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey
New findings released from the EBRI/Greenwald Research Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS) reported that consumers were overall satisfied with their health plan selection and services, while high deductible plans showed a slight decline in enrollment.
Report: Most Americans Don’t Know How Much Their Health Care Costs
Fewer than 20% of adults in the United States know the cost of their health care products or services before receiving them, and almost all of them believe health care organizations need to make costs more transparent. What’s more, only about 3 in 10 American adults feel those costs reflect the quality of the products and services they receive.
These are some of the results of the new Bentley-Gallup Business in Society Report, which is based on a survey of more than 5,450 Gallup Panel respondents about areas in which businesses are improving their daily lives and society as a whole — and where businesses are falling short.
The health care-related findings cited above were similar across all key subgroups and demographic groups, including race/ethnicity, gender, age, education level, geographic region, and health insurance coverage status. This, according to Gallup, suggests a society-wide lack of awareness about individuals’ healthcare costs, regardless of personal background.
Yes, a Spouse’s General Health FSA Affects Your HSA Eligibility
Understanding all your coverage is critical to ensuring that you remain eligible to fund your Health Savings Account.
The issue comes up again and again. Rarely does a month go by when I’m not asked by a benefits advisor or a company’s benefits specialist about a problem that someone just discovered. One spouse is enrolled in the company’s Health Savings Account program and is making his own and receiving the employer’s contributions to the account. The worker’s spouse is enrolled in her company general Health FSA program to reimburse some of her qualified expenses tax-free.
I’m asked, “What can we do?” The answer I give is always discouraging. Unless both spouses have the same anniversary dates and the compliance issue is caught in time to cancel the Health FSA participation, they don’t have a path to salvaging Health Savings Account eligibility that plan year.
Tax season: Important HSA Considerations the Workforce Should Know
With tax season on the horizon, employers and their benefits teams have a timely opportunity to continue educating employees about the tax advantages of health savings accounts (HSAs), both for this year’s tax returns and for future financial planning.
As your employees prepare for the April 15 tax deadline, benefits managers should be communicating regularly to remind them that post-tax HSA contributions (up to the IRS contribution limit) can reduce their tax bills and that they have until that IRS deadline to max out. Employees 55 and older can make an additional annual catch-up contribution and save even more on their taxes while investing for future medical expenses.