Health savings accounts (HSAs) turn 10 years old on Sunday. Signed into law Dec. 8, 2003 by President George W. Bush, HSAs were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act and served as a replacement for medical savings accounts. Today, these accounts have become a popular and economical option for both employers and employees, as well as a key component of the trend toward consumer-driven health care.
According to America's Health Insurance Plans, 15.5 million people are covered by HSAs/high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). HSAs have seen steady and significant growth each year since their launch.
In celebration of HSAs' "birth," we've compiled our top five considerations for making HSA plans successful for your clients and their employees in the New Year:
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1. Meaningful analytics
Employers need to take the time to regularly view and understand the analytics in their HSA reports. It's important to analyze and understand what the data means, in order to identify trends and recognize opportunities for improvement that exist. While many employers are strapped for time and resources, remember that HSA administrators and brokers/agents have the experience and knowledge to help in better utilizing these tools to drive change and impact trends.
2. Year-round communication
It's not enough to communicate during open enrollment and then hope for the best the rest of the year. To truly realize the benefits of HSAs and to educate employees, a dedicated, year-round approach is needed. While this may seem daunting, starting with a list of pre-determined topics to communicate to employees for the year is an excellent way to ensure they are receiving all the timely information they need to make positive choices throughout the year.
3. Wellness state of mind
While the financial benefits of HDHPs partnered with HSAs for both employers and employees have been well touted, the health and wellness benefits are often a lesser consideration. That is a misstep as HSAs and wellness programs are natural partners. Both ask employees to engage and be proactive in making educated health and wellness decisions that not only help the bottom-line, but also improve employee health outcomes. Consider incorporating wellness messaging into HSA materials and discussions with employees. Wellness incentives can also be tied to HSA contributions.
4. Consider contributions
If you want employees to truly embrace their health care decisions and consider an HSA/HDHP plan, it is important to consider the level of support offered through employer contributions. Plans with initial and on-going contributions from the employer see greater acceptance and adoption as this helps employees overcome some of their initial cost burden concerns and can create goodwill between employer and employee.
5. Partner for success
These steps are all made possible and easy with the right partner. Selecting an HSA administrator that is capable and experienced is critical to the employer and employee experience, while making you look better. Some treat this decision as secondary, but there is a wide spectrum of difference from one administrator to the next and it is critical that you have a partner dedicated to the HSA space with the tools you'll need to succeed.
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