Benefits

Also being considered is legislation for expanding benefits of HSAs.

In a broad statement marking the first anniversary of the OregonSaves program, State Treasurer Tobias Read suggests the pace of signups is advancing, with an average of more than a thousand people now being registered a week to start contributing.

Overall, approximately one-fifth of organizations have a restriction or other cost-saving measure in place for coverage of spouses and domestic partners, a survey from SHRM finds.

For those learning about HSAs for the first time, one of the keys is to understand there is one set of rules for money going into the accounts, and another set of rules for money moving out.

Dave Chase, co-founder of Health Rosetta, says three questions address three big problems in health care: pricing failure, overtreatment and a crazy amount of administrative burden.

HSAs need to offer equities, multi-asset classes and fixed income, Devenir says.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has increased the affordability percentage for 2019 to 9.86%, up from 9.56% in 2018, the law firm Haynes and Boone announced.

One important purpose of offering more holistic benefits and education that link health and wealth concerns for employees is that it “prevents the 401(k) plan from being treated like a checkbook.”

Is it more than education? Is it a full-blown program or something spontaneous and ad hoc? How frequently is it delivered, and how is it benchmarked? Who delivers it, and when?

Franklin Templeton last year launched the Spryng crowd funding platform for college savings; at this point the firm has not conducted a systematic review of profile performance, but anecdotally, gift givers have typically been a friend or family member of the account owner or beneficiary, though other examples of giving have demonstrated the broad power of the platform.

Prudential Financial experts anticipate Social Security’s funding shortfall will likely result in program changes over time, such as reducing cost-of-living adjustments, raising the full retirement age beyond 67 or cutting benefits.

According to the Social Security Board of Trustees, the total annual cost of the federal benefits program is projected to exceed total annual income in 2018 for the first time since 1982, and remain higher throughout the 75-year projection period.

Speakers on an EBRI webinar discussed trends in self-insured health plans, as well as why employers are choosing to self-insure and ways to manage employee health and health care utilization.

However, EBRI found plan participants who have owned a health savings account (HSA) for 10 or more years are very likely to report (71%) that having an HSA has empowered them to make better health and financial decisions.

Some companies already employ the theories of behavioral economics in various strategies that push their workers to make healthier decisions, says the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Compared with new users, repeat users are 24% more apt to be on track for retirement and 21% more apt to have confidence in their investments, Financial Finesse research finds.

The SEC says if investors plan to use the money in their HSA soon, different account features may be useful than if they plan to invest the money for the future.

Broadening the focus of traditional, physically focused wellness programs to become more holistic (adding financial, social & mental well-being) is leading more employers to ask about a platform/hub to combine all of their benefits initiatives, a survey found.

Fifty-three percent of people with access to wellness programs said the initiatives have made a positive impact on their health, which can save both employees and employers money.

The most challenging part respondents to a WEX Health survey cited in using their HSA was making sure to have enough funds set aside to cover deductibles (29%) and figuring out how much money to put in the account overall (21%).