HSA
EmberAssoc
2 Posts
I recently started working for a small company that has a high deductible health plan with an HSA (Health Savings Account). The company contributes to the plan $2,400 for single employees and $4,800 for employees with dependents. Employees with dependents pay $20% of the dependent portion of the premium (i.e., if the dependent premium is $100.00 per month, the employee pays $20.00). The company is planning on deducting 20% of the HSA contribution for the "dependent portion" (i.e., $480.00 is deducted from the employee's pay check at the end of the year) next week. The company uses an outside CPA for taxes and I contacted her about whether this deduction is allowed, and she is checking on this--unfortunatley she is out of the office for at least a week.
I should add that this HSA plan was only added last year by the previous HR person, so this is new for the company. Has anyone encountered this before?
Thank you
Lynn B
Comments
This sounds overly complicated. If you are unsure about this program imagine how the employees feel. I just switched our benefits over to a high deductible HSA plan. It is my understanding that as long as you are consistent you can have different levels of HSA contributions for different groups (i.e. you could contribute $1000 a year for single coverage employees, $2000 for employee + spouse and $4000 a year for family coverage). What I don't understand is why the company is contributing and then deducting money later. I think you are doing the right thing by questioning this and asking an expert. You may want to get your benefits broker (if you have one) involved as well.
Here is what we do for our employees. We pay a flat dollar amount towards the monthly premium. Whatever is left over is the responsibility of the employee. We also put a set dollar amount in each employees' HSA each month. It is the same for every employee.
We're going HSA for next year and I have a meeting this afternoon to go over the details. Any advice on general terms about things to look for or avoid?
I would definitely get the broker on the phone if the CPA is out. If the CPA is part of a firm, there should be someone else available to take your call while your regular person is away.
I am not sure why they would say that it wasn't the best option for single women in companies. I currently have a High Deductible, HSA plan for my employees. For my plan, all preventative services (child well care, adult physicals, routine gyn visits, mammograms, and cancer screenings) are not part of the annual deductible and so my employees only have to pay a $10, $20 or $30 co-pay (depending on which preventative service they get). The employee can use HSA dollars to pay for this co-pay.
TXHRGuy - One thing to look at when setting up an HSA program is what bank you are going to get to hold the accounts for you. Many banks will charge monthly maintenance fees for HS accounts. When we set up our accounts, the company was in the process of changing banks so part of the negiotiation was that we would move all of our money to a certain bank but they could not charge our employees the monthly maintenance fee on the account. They agreed to this because they wanted our business. The fees I saw at other banks ranged from $2-4 per account per month.