Employers who shift to self-funded plans often are offering dual options including an HDHP-HSA, especially if their advisor plan matched. We have all seen the young invincibles gravitate to the HDHP plans in a lot of cases, yet the danger is that these are the same employees who may know the least about healthcare benefit navigation. A few things that come to mind: can the employee actually afford to pay the deductible if a medical event occurs and second, do they know where to go if something major comes up? Unless they are unbelievably savvy, chances are they aren’t going to do price comparisons without some help.
Satisfying the HDHP deductible is actually not that hard in many cases if the employer and employee has leveraged their HSA correctly. With employer average contributions being slightly above $800 per year, these young invincibles who contribute on a standard basis can quickly build a nice balance to pay for medical services without having to come out of pocket all at once. If the employer makes a contribution at the beginning of the year, that means the employee may not even have to come out of pocket for first dollar benefits. Once a member hits their cash reserve amount, they can invest anything over that amount in a tax free account that can also be spent on qualified healthcare tax free. This means the employee is actually creating wealth while saving for a rainy day.
Smarter decisions, more education and longer term financial wealth are all benefits of one of the companies that I am helping connect with viable partners. If you are seeking a competitive edge for your HDHP-HSA groups this year, I am happy to connect you with them. They have a new product that will be available for 7/1 that helps make the healthcare navigation a breeze.
Comments