Background

If you are like most employers, you are looking for ways to reduce your ever-increasing health insurance costs. One solution that more and more organizations are turning to is Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). A survey conducted last year by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) indicated that 81 percent of large and 78 percent of small businesses were considering implementing HSAs. Considering that HSAs operate much differently than most health plans, many employers have questions about how to set up HSAs that comply with the law and maximize the value of employer and employee health care dollars. If you are thinking about implementing an HSA at your organization, you need to know how to avoid potential pitfalls in HSA design, contributions, distributions, and interactions with other benefits.That's where we can help. We have teamed up with HSA Policy Compliance Specialist, Mark Lam to present a 90-minute audio conference titled:

Successfully Adding HSAs To Your Benefits Mix

Originally Presented On:
Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Mark Lam is a Policy Compliance Specialist at Flexible Benefits Service Corporation (FBSC). As such, Mr. Lam is responsible for monitoring, communicating, and implementing the various regulations that govern the administrative products that FBSC offers. Additionally, he is very active in assisting and educating brokers and their clients in designing innovative and compliant plan designs to help achieve their employee benefits goals. He is also an active member of the Employer Council on Flexible Compensation and holds the designation of Certified Flexible Compensation Instructor (CFCI).

This conference will answer tricky questions like:

• How can I integrate an HSA into my current benefits options and lower my health care costs? To what level should the employer fund the HSA? Can the employer reduce an employee's last paycheck to account for excess contributions? Are employer-sponsored HSAs subject to HIPAA and ERISA? How do HSAs work with cafeteria plans?
• How do the comparability rules affect employer contributions?

Who Should Listen In

• Benefits Managers
• HR Professionals/Directors/Managers
• Office Managers
• Business Owners

Conference Outline

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) Basics

• What is an HSA? What makes an HSA unique?
• 2006 deductible, out-of-pocket, and contribution limits

Employer Involvement With HSAs

• Selecting the HSA approachGuidelines for avoiding ERISA coverage
• Suggestions for the best timing and type of employer contributions

Common Employer Mistakes

• Using a non-qualified health plan Not understanding tax-year contribution limits Failure to understand and follow the HSA "Comparability Rules"Not knowing which account distributions are tax-free and which are taxableAllowing automatic payment to providers without giving employees controlReducing employees' last paycheck to account for excess contributions
• Failure to understand HSA interaction with Cafeteria Plan FSAs and HRAs

When Mistakes Happen

• Who catches the mistakes? When are they caught?
• How to correct a mistake once it is caught

The Top 5 Questions Employees Ask About HSAs — And The Answers

Q&A Session With Our Expert

PHR/SPHR Credits

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org .