Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, allow your employees to save money for future medical expenses. The account is linked with a Qualifying High Deductible Health Plan (QHDHP) to save employers and employees money through lower premiums. HSAs are favored IRA-type trust accounts that "eligible individuals" covered by a QHDHP can establish to pay for qualifying out-of-pocket medical expenses. Employers, employees, or other individuals may all contribute to the employee's HSA. To maximize savings, BPC can integrate an HSA with a limited health FSA.

There are many advantages for the employer by offering an HSA:

• Affordability: switching to a QHDHP should lower your health insurance premiums
• Awareness: employees become more aware of cost of medical care since they pay for higher deductible expenses with their HSA dollars, encourages less consumption of unnecessary medical services
• Flexibility: option for you to contribute to employee's HSA, but not required
• Tax Savings: when your employees contribute to HSA through a Section 125 plan, you save taxes

There are many advantages for the employee to having an HSA:

• Protection: QHDHP and HSA together save your employees from unplanned and high medical expenses
• Investment: not only do your employees save money, the investment earnings add up as well
• Power: your employees can decide how much to contribute, what expenses to pay for, and which investments to make
• Portability: even through life's changes (moving, medical coverage alterations, unemployment, changes in marital status, etc.) the HSA can be utilized
• Ownership: there are no "use it or lose it" rules, so your employees funds remain in the account
• Tax Savings: when your employees contribute to HSA they save taxes. In addition, there are tax-free investment earnings and tax-free payments for medical expenses