HSA News for September 26, 2022
HSA news is compiled weekly by Mr. HSA, Roy Ramthun.
News from Washington
Voters Split on Which Party They Want to Take Congress in Midterms
With control of Congress hanging in the balance, Republicans and Democrats are neck-and-neck in the weeks before November’s midterm elections, according to a poll released September 25. Asked if the election for the House were held today, 47% of voters said they would choose the Republican candidate, compared to the 46% who opted for the Democrat – well within the 4 percentage points margin of error.
HSA Studies & Analysis
2022 Midyear Devenir HSA Research Report
HSAs grew to $98.8 billion in assets held in almost 34 million accounts, for the period ending June 30th, 2022. Account holders contributed over $26 billion to their accounts in the first half of 2022 (up 11% from the year prior) and withdrew $18 billion from their accounts in the first half of 2022 (up 12% from year prior).Devenir currently projects that the HSA market will reach 39 million accounts by the end of 2024, holding $142 billion in assets.
HSA Compliance Corner
Can Your State Disqualify You from Funding an HSA? Unfortunately, Yes!
States can inadvertently disqualify companies within the state who sponsor insured medical coverage from offering an HSA-qualified plan. That's probably not the intention of legislators or regulators who propose these laws or rules. But it takes a lot of work to undo the damage once it's identified. The best defense is a separate state law (the vaccine) stating that a mandate that would disqualify an HSA-qualified plan won't apply to those plans.
HSA Industry News
Benefit Resource Selects First Dollar to Power Embedded Health Savings Account
First Dollar announced a new partnership with benefit administrator Benefit Resource to power an HSA inside of its member experience. The integration of First Dollar's embedded components will allow BRI customers with HSA-eligible plans to directly initiate key banking actions directly from their BRI dashboard.
The HSA Market
Inflation Is Driving Workers to Review Benefit Choices
According to new research, 70% of American employees surveyed expect to spend additional time reviewing their benefit selections because of inflation this open-enrollment season. 70% of employees want support from their employer to make the optimal benefits selections across retirement savings, health care, Health Savings Accounts, and voluntary benefits like critical illness or accident insurance.
HSAs & Retirement
3 Reasons You Should Prioritize Saving for Retirement in an HSA
If you have access to a Health Savings Account, it should be a top priority for your savings. The account offers a slew of tax benefits while remaining extremely flexible. Here are three reasons you should be putting your savings in an HSA.
How to Use Your HSA as a Retirement Plan
Whether you're in the early stages of your working years or you're nearing retirement, one of the biggest burdens that can dampen your golden years is healthcare expenses. But one tool that can help you save for healthcare costs in retirement is a Health Savings Account. In many ways, an HSA functions similarly to a traditional IRA or 401(k). But HSAs have major advantages over traditional retirement accounts.
Maximizing Your HSA
Health Savings Accounts Can Mean Big Savings
A Health Savings Account is used to save and pay for future medical expenses. The highlight of having an HSA is that the money in it is yours. You can invest it so it can grow over time and if used properly, it is never taxed. For many who take advantage and participate in such a program, there is peace of mind in knowing that, through their efforts, funds will be there to help pay for future health and medical needs.
Love Tax Savings? Then This Account Is the Right One for You
Many people are familiar with the tax breaks offered by savings plans such as traditional and Roth IRAs and 401(k)s. If you're not a fan of paying taxes, then there's one account you should definitely seek to contribute to, if you're allowed. A Health Savings Account offers three distinct tax benefits. So let's talk about the tax breaks you'll get with an HSA.
Limited Purpose FSAs vs. HSAs: Which Has More Bang for The Buck?
With a limited purpose flexible spending account you can pay for dental and vision care expenses using pretax dollars. LPFSAs are usually paired with HSAs. Like HSAs, LPFSAs have a cap on annual contributions and contributions can only be used for qualified healthcare expenses. Unlike HSAs, LPFSA funds typically have to be used before the end of the year or they are lost.
Consumer-Driven Health Care
Deadlines for Using Up Flexible Spending Accounts Return
It’s especially important this year to check the balance in your health FSA and know the deadline for using it on health costs because the elastic rules adopted in the pandemic are expiring. The federal government let employers relax those rules during the pandemic to give workers more time to spend the money. But now the rules are set to return to normal, and some workers may have more cash than usual that must be spent in the coming months.
As Open Enrollment Looms, Will You Enroll in a Health FSA or an HSA?
During open enrollment season, it's good to understand the differences between two popular reimbursement accounts that many companies offer: a Health Savings Account and a Health FSA. If your company offers only one, the decision is simple. If it offers both, you can benefit financially by understanding which account provides the greater financial benefit to you.