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A summary of the articles included in the November 2022 edition:
- 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey – Section 8: High-Deductible Health Plans with Savings Option
- 3 Myths Preventing Employers From Embracing HSA-Qualified Plans
- PSCA Finds More Employers Using Automatic Enrollment for HSAs
- Centier Bank Launches New Health Savings Account, Powered by Lively
- Want More Employees to Enroll in a Health Savings Account? Here’s a Simple Solution
- Conduent Health Data Finds 57% of Eligible Employees Use a Health Savings Account
2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey – Section 8: High-Deductible Health Plans with Savings Option
The Kaiser Family Foundation has published their 24th annual survey of employers, providing a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, wellness programs, and employer practices. The 2022 survey included 2,188 interviews with non-federal public and private firms.
Some of the key findings related to HSAs:
- 28% of firms offering health benefits offer an HDHP/HRA, an HSA-qualified HDHP, or both. Among firms offering health benefits, 7% offer an HDHP/HRA and 25% offer an HSA-qualified HDHP. The percentage of firms offering an HDHP/SO is similar to last year.
- 24% of covered workers are enrolled in HSA-qualified HDHPs in 2022. This is up from 21% last year.
- The average annual premiums for workers in HSA-qualified HDHPs are $7,170 for single coverage and $21,079 for family coverage. These amounts are significantly less than the average single and family premium for covered workers in plans that are not HDHP/SOs.
3 Myths Preventing Employers From Embracing HSA-Qualified Plans
Open enrollment is around the corner and your high deductible health plan with a health savings account is on the table. You encourage your employees to take part in it and they want to take advantage. Yet you still experience employee hesitancy with adopting or switching to your HSA-qualified plan. Why?
The most likely reason is this: Your employees are comfortable with their current plans and don’t understand how an HSA-qualified plan can give them the best options and the most savings. So how do you get your staff to buy in?
The biggest barrier to HDHP and HSA adoption is education. By communicating the value of your benefits offering and educating your staff on how your HSA-qualified plan can benefit them long-term, you can boost engagement during open enrollment and motivate your employees to explore and take advantage of their options. Here are some actionable steps you can take.
PSCA Finds More Employers Using Automatic Enrollment for HSAs
More employers are using automatic enrollment into health savings accounts as part of an effort to position the accounts more as savings vehicles than spending vehicles, according to a survey from Plan Sponsor Council of America.
Of the 463 employers surveyed from June through August that offer HSAs, 41.5% automatically enroll employees in the HSA if they have enrolled in a high-deductible health-care plan, up from 35.3% in 2020 and 32.2% in 2019.
Automatic enrollment “dramatically increases” the savings rate, according to a news release Wednesday. Also, 61.9% of surveyed employers said they educate and encourage rollovers from other health savings account, and 57.2% of respondents allow rollovers.
Centier Bank Launches New Health Savings Account, Powered by Lively
Centier Bank announced the launch of a new health savings account (HSA) in its suite of banking products to help individuals, as well as companies, maximize savings when it comes to health and medical costs. The Centier Bank HSA, powered by Lively, is an account specifically for medical costs that helps consumers save for the needs of today and tomorrow.
Want More Employees to Enroll in a Health Savings Account? Here’s a Simple Solution
Isn’t it time for Congress to update the HSA rules to allow more people to establish this employer-sponsored account to help pay for their deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses?
HSAs were established in order to provide a tax-effective means for people in HDHPs to make tax deductible contributions to fund medical out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses not covered by insurance. However, many people may not be able eligible to contribute to an HSA due to limitations imposed on HSA eligibility.
It is time for Congress to update the HSA rules to allow more people to establish an HSA to help pay for their deductibles and OOP expenses. A number of bills have been introduced in Congress that chip away at the restrictions on who can contribute to an HSA. Rather than address these problems on a piecemeal basis, Congress should consider a simple solution: allow anyone covered by a health plan that meets the requirements under the Affordable Care Act to contribute to an HSA.
Conduent Health Data Finds 57% of Eligible Employees Use a Health Savings Account
According to new health benefit data from Conduent, 57% of people enrolled in a HDHP are contributing to HSAs, which can provide tax savings and cost savings on day-to-day OTC and other medical expenditures. Many could be saving more for future health expenses while reducing tax bills by increasing their annual contributions, according to data from more than 200,000 employees across four industries.
According to the data:
- While HSA participation did not differ significantly by age group, once employees hit age 35, their annual contributions jumped by more than 35%. Average annual contribution amounts among employees between 35 and 65 remained similar regardless of age group. The 2022 maximum annual contribution is $3,650 for individuals and $7,300 for a family.
- Of those who contributed to an HSA, more income doesn’t mean increased HSA participation, but it does mean greater contribution amounts. Employees in the highest income group contribute just over one percent of their income while employees in the lowest income bracket contribute less than one-half percent of their income.