The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as Healthcare Reform, has forever changed the way in which we deal with our healthcare and health insurance. Group plans and their designs have changed due to PPACA regulations, as well as in the face of ever-rising premiums. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have now been on the market for 10 years and PPACA has actually led to greater adoption, not less. According to Kathryn Mayer’s article “Seven Reasons HSAs are Taking Off,” HSAs have grown to an estimated $18.1 billion in assets, representing more than 9.1 million accounts in the past year. With the concept of HSAs being relatively new, there has been significant growth in the amount of employers that have adopted it. With the HSA becoming a highly popular option, it is necessary as an employer to obtain the appropriate education and careful financial analysis necessary for successful adoption and implementation. As an employer, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is have you re-examined your strategy surrounding this cultural and financial change to your benefits program?
In order to assist in educating our clients and colleagues, Alltrust’s Senior Broker, Corey Lilburn, CEBS, conducted a webinar on HSA strategy in the aftermath of Healthcare Reform, as part of a monthly Alltrust “All in the Know” Webinar series on March 21, 2014.
Corey covered a wide variety of items in this one-hour webinar including:
- Origin and basic principals of an HSA;
- How an HSA works with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP);
- Consumer-driven health plans;
- Requirements of an HDHP;
- Eligibility and contributions to an HSA;
- Qualified medical expenses; and
- Sample plan comparisons along with an HSA calculator.
The webinar provided a thorough understanding of the impact of PPACA regulations as they relate to HSAs, and how the HSA works in conjunction with high deductible plans (Alltrust will be posting a link to the full webinar soon). Stay tuned for future webinars in our “All in the Know” series.
