Episode 14: Benefits Accounts - A deep dive into dependents and tax-favored accounts

In honor of HSA Day, we celebrate the many benefits HSAs offer employees throughout their career journey and into retirement. In this episode, our experts reflect on the power of HSAs at this point in their careers and the aspects of this benefit employees may not be aware of.

Many employees may not be aware of how different account types can help them save on dependent care and healthcare costs. In this episode, our experts explain how a dependent is defined and the tax benefits related to the various types of accounts including dependent care FSAs, healthcare FSAs, HRAs and HSAs.

Employees desire benefits that are straight forward and reliable. How do employers make sure the valuable benefits being offered to their employees are personalized and accessible? Hear our experts discuss how APIs are enabling the fast, accurate and secure exchange of data between systems, vendors and carriers.

With inflation being top of mind, empowering employees to make the most of the triple-tax-savings opportunity their HSA provides is crucial. In this episode, our experts unpack the financial benefits of HSAs and the different ways employers can educate employees on how to save their hard-earned dollars.

Moreso than ever, health and retirement benefits are key reasons employees join or stay with employers. In this tight labor market, how employers communicate the value of their benefits offering can give them a competitive advantage. In this episode, our experts discuss creative and outside-the-box strategies employers can use to communicate, connect and engage with employees.

With the pandemic and higher living costs, financial wellbeing is a matter that employers are prioritizing to reduce the impacts on employees. In this episode, our benefits delivery experts discuss outcome-focused communication strategies for employers so they can help their employees enrolled in high deductible health plans (HDHP) take full advantage of their health savings accounts (HSA).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, employers have been faced with the challenge of ensuring a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. In September of 2021, President Biden announced the COVID-19 action plan, Path Out of the Pandemic, which requires employers with more than 100 employees to ensure workers are vaccinated or tested weekly. What does this mean for employers and their workforce? Our experts discuss the questions you’re thinking about, our latest research from nearly 1,000 employers and the administration and compliance concerns to be aware of.

Research shows year over year employees are increasingly opening HSA accounts. However in 2020, about 20% of accounts were unfunded—meaning employees were not enjoying any of the tax benefits the HSA provides. Why is this employee benefit so often underutilized? Our experts tackle the issue of engagement and talk strategy and practical tips so employers can take action and help their employees maximize the spending and saving value available to them from these accounts.

HSAs are often a misunderstood benefit by employees, especially when it comes to how these accounts can help save for retirement. Our experts discuss the reality of health care costs in retirement, and how an HSA in addition to a 401(k) can be a highly effective strategy in planning for the future.

This second episode on COBRA subsidies focuses on Department of Labor guidance and model notices. Our experts review administration challenges and compliance strategies for implementing the subsidies and coordinating subsidies with the one-year extensions under previous emergency rules.