HSA News for January 9, 2023
HSA news is compiled weekly by Mr. HSA, Roy Ramthun.
HSA Studies & Analysis
Segal: Colleges and Universities Are Embracing HDHPs with HSAs
Segal’s 2022 College and University Benefits Study found there’s been steady growth in HDHPs as a percentage of all health plan offerings. The study also found a dramatic increase in the percentage of institutions offering HDHPs with Health Savings Accounts. Institutions are paying a larger percentage of HDHP premiums for single and family coverage to encourage faculty and staff to enroll in these plans.
HSA Best Practices
Beyond Health Care: Helping Employees Maximize Their HSAs for Long-Term Savings
HSAs' unique tax advantages and flexible withdrawal options make them an integral retirement savings vehicle. But understanding of the account’s value, especially beyond immediate medical savings, remains a barrier to utilization. Driving workforce awareness of this under-utilized tool is critical. HR teams should emphasize three key benefits when educating employees to better understand and maximize their HSAs.
The HSA Market
Health Savings Accounts Can Help Freelancers Address Their Top Concern
Freelancers enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with their work, but freelancing comes with obvious drawbacks, including less financial certainty, no employer benefits, and double payroll taxes. HSAs can't address all these drawbacks but they reduce the financial effect of them, to the extent that HSAs offer tax savings on medical expenses that are typically enjoyed only by traditional employees, they reduce the financial effect of these drawbacks. That's good news for millions of Americans.
156M Beneficiaries Receive Health Insurance Through Public Programs
As of September 2022, more than 150 million people receive health insurance through public programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, according to the latest government enrollment data. Over 65 million people are enrolled in Medicare and almost 84 million people are enrolled in Medicaid. 12 million are enrolled in both programs and are counted in both totals.
HSAs & Retirement
The HSA: A Retirement Benefit in Disguise?
Employees aren’t taking advantage of HSAs because there hasn’t been enough education about them. It took time but employees now understand the benefits of a 401(k) and how to participate. Part of the challenge is that HSAs have different applications depending on life stage and needs, and the tax implications and intricacies might feel overwhelming. There is a huge opportunity to educate employees on how to strategically utilize HSAs and reap the most benefits.
Maximizing Your HSA
Fight Inflation and Save on Health Care with an HSA
The average paycheck doesn’t stretch as far as it did a year ago. Ongoing inflation, supply chain issues, and other marketplace factors have contributed to American households’ spending $445 more each month to buy the same items they did a year ago. These financial realities have your employees looking for ways to reduce spending. One solution to this problem is the health savings account (HSA).
Consumer-Driven Health Care
How Health Insurance May Have Made Health Care More Expensive
As health-care prices rose over the past fifty years, patients were being asked to pay more out of pocket when they received care. There are many complicated reasons for the rise in the cost of care, but one of the biggest catalysts for inflation was the rise of health insurance. In the early 2000s, federal legislation led to a major restructuring of how insurance plans shared costs, spurring a boom in high-deductible health insurance plans.
More Families Facing Price Shocks for Lifesaving Children's Medications
For years, Meghan Neri paid $30 apiece for packages of epinephrine auto-injectors for her two adolescent children with food allergies. Neri was shocked when, in 2019, her family pharmacist said that each auto-injector pack would cost $600. The price of the epinephrine shots themselves had not risen. The problem was the Neris had switched to a new, high-deductible health insurance plan to save money.
Drugmakers to Raise Prices on at Least 350 Drugs in U.S. in January
Drugmakers including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca and Sanofi plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 350 unique drugs in early January, according to a new analysis. The increases are expected to come as the pharmaceutical industry prepares for the Medicare program to negotiate prices directly for some drugs starting in 2026.