Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Advice for employers on HSAs
["An Example of How Not to Set Up HSAs for Your Employees," The HSA Insider, 8 November 2004.]
HSA Insider provides some excellent advice on how to approach an HSA offering for employees. The logic is simple - get greedy, and it will end up costing you:
Five Guidelines for Employers Offering HSAs to their Employees
1. Share the savings from switching to a high deductible plan with the employee by depositing a significant amount of the deductible in the account.
2. Offer the employees a hospitalization rider, either they can buy it or the employer can buy it.
3. Make a one time contribution to set up the account. On going fees
can be paid by the employee.
4. When you educate employees about the HSA choice, talk about the money in the account first, and the deductible after you talk about money.
5. Especially during the first year, only a certain percentage of employees will choose an HSA, even if you design the offer correctly. It is in the second year, when employees with hundreds of dollars in their HSA talk to employees who do not have an HSA, that you will see more employees choose the HSA. (“Jane got new glasses and contacts, and Johnny got a retainer with money in my HSA.”)
There are some employers who do not want to give their employees the HSA money. Why are these employers more comfortable giving an insurance company their money, than they are giving their money to their employees?
Interested in learning more about how to implement HSAs? Join Flint Hills for a workshop on November 12th in Kansas City and find out all the details. For more information, visit www.flinthills.org.
["An Example of How Not to Set Up HSAs for Your Employees," The HSA Insider, 8 November 2004.]
HSA Insider provides some excellent advice on how to approach an HSA offering for employees. The logic is simple - get greedy, and it will end up costing you:
Five Guidelines for Employers Offering HSAs to their Employees
1. Share the savings from switching to a high deductible plan with the employee by depositing a significant amount of the deductible in the account.
2. Offer the employees a hospitalization rider, either they can buy it or the employer can buy it.
3. Make a one time contribution to set up the account. On going fees
can be paid by the employee.
4. When you educate employees about the HSA choice, talk about the money in the account first, and the deductible after you talk about money.
5. Especially during the first year, only a certain percentage of employees will choose an HSA, even if you design the offer correctly. It is in the second year, when employees with hundreds of dollars in their HSA talk to employees who do not have an HSA, that you will see more employees choose the HSA. (“Jane got new glasses and contacts, and Johnny got a retainer with money in my HSA.”)
There are some employers who do not want to give their employees the HSA money. Why are these employers more comfortable giving an insurance company their money, than they are giving their money to their employees?
Interested in learning more about how to implement HSAs? Join Flint Hills for a workshop on November 12th in Kansas City and find out all the details. For more information, visit www.flinthills.org.
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