Headlines about "Health savings accounts (HSAs)"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Opinion] Georgia's Tax Breaks to Increase Use of Health Savings Accounts Did Not Expand Health Coverage
"New data show that an approach to covering the uninsured that Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation (CHT) largely designed and heavily promoted to Georgia policymakers -- and that Georgia adopted in 2008 -- has failed to produce the promised results." (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

[Opinion] Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medicine Saves Healthcare System Billions
"[T]he study findings underscore the importance of reversing a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) that prohibits consumers from using their flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) to purchase OTC medicines without first getting a prescription. At the time this provision was enacted, an estimated 19 million working American families purchased OTC medicines, relying on these accessible and affordable medicines to keep their families healthy." (Consumer Healthcare Products Association)

[Official Guidance] IRS Notice 2012-14: 'Eligible Individual' HSA Status for Persons Eligible for Services at an Indian Health Service Facility (PDF)
"An individual who is eligible to receive medical services at an IHS facility, but who has not actually received such services during the previous three months, is an eligible individual within the meaning of ? 223(c)(1) who may establish and make tax-free contributions to an HSA. However, an individual generally is not an eligible individual if the individual has received medical services at an IHS facility at any time during the previous three months." (U.S. Internal Revenue Service)

Patients in Consumer-Driven Health Plans Show More Cost-Conscious Behavior (PDF)
"[T]hose in [consumer-driven health plans] were more likely to say they had checked whether their plan would cover care; asked for a generic drug instead of a brand name drug; talked to their doctor about treatment options and costs; talked to their doctor about prescription drug options and costs; developed a budget to manage health care expenses; checked a price of service before getting care; and used an online cost-tracking tool." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

Assets in Health Savings Accounts Grow Substantially During 2011
"HSAs continue to see consistent growth as the total number of HSA accounts rose to almost 6.8 million with assets totaling $12.4 billion, a year over year increase of almost 20% for accounts and a nearly 26% increase in assets for the period from December 31st, 2010 to December 31st, 2011." (Devenir)

[Opinion] Comments of Galen Institute on Medical Loss Ratio Requirements
"The MLR rules as drafted discriminate against Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and similar high-deductible health plans in a number of ways. These accounts provide employers, employees, and individuals with an option to purchase coverage with a larger deductible so that the polices function more like traditional 'insurance' -- covering medical expenses above a certain threshold. . . . The Galen Institute respectfully requests that HHS exempt HSAs and other high-deductible health plans from the MLR requirement . . . ." (Galen Institute)

[Official Guidance] Bill Text for H.R. 3819: Health Freedom for Seniors Act
"To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the transfer of required minimum distributions from a retirement plan to a health savings account." (The Library of Congress)

IRS 2011 Version of Publication 969 on HSAs, HRAs, Health FSAs, and MSAs
"Publication 969 provides a convenient overview of the basic features of various consumer-driven health care vehicles without getting into too much detail." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

IRS Issues 2011 Versions of Publications on Medical and Dental Expenses and on Child and Dependent Care Expenses
"Pub. 502 provides valuable guidance on what qualifies as a medical expense under Code ? 213(d), and thus, helps identify the expenses that may be reimbursed or paid by health FSAs, HSAs, or HRAs." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006?2011 (PDF)
"Account-based health plans continued to grow in 2011, increasing to $12.4 billion in assets among 8.4 million accounts . . . ." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

[Guidance Overview] Updates on Health and Welfare Benefit Developments, Dec. 12, 2011
Includes discussion entitled 'Amendment to 'Pay-or-Play' Law May Require Immediate Attention by Employers with San Francisco Employees.' Excerpt: 'The HCSO amendment will likely require most employers who satisfy the HCSO's pay-or-play mandate by using health reimbursement arrangements ('HRAs') or employer contributions to health flexible spending arrangements ('health FSAs') to amend or restructure those HRAs or health FSAs before the end of the year." (Miller Chevalier)

[Guidance Overview] 2012 HSA Changes: What You Need to Communicate
"Under the last-month rule, an eligible individual on the first day of the last month of the member's tax year (Dec. 1, for most taxpayers), is considered an eligible individual for the entire year. . . . This means that someone who becomes eligible on Dec. 1, 2011, and has family HDHP coverage on that date [generally] can immediately contribute $6,150 to their HSA, and then add another $6,250 on Jan. 1, 2012." (BenefitsPro)

[Guidance Overview] 2012 HSA Changes: What You Need to Communicate
"For calendar year 2012, the annual limitation on deductions for an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan will be $3,100. The annual limitation on deductions for an individual with family coverage under a high deductible health plan is $6,250. The catch-up contribution for those 55 or older will remain at $1,000." (BenefitsPro)

[Guidance Overview] Employers Must Comply with Changes to San Francisco Health Care Mandate Beginning January 1, 2012
"While these changes again raise federal [ERISA] preemption concerns, barring a challenge (which seems unlikely), the Ordinance's new requirements will go into effect. Employers, particularly those using a health reimbursement account plan (HRA) or a health savings account (HSA) plan, should consider compliance preparations with the assistance of legal counsel." (Jackson Lewis LLP)

Health Savings Accounts and Account-Based Health Plans
"This report outlines research findings and statistics about HSAs in the following areas: enrollment, age and income distribution, health status, premiums, preventive care, and account information." (AHIP Coverage)

Implementing an HSA with HDHP: How Hard Could it Be?
"This post explores some of the general eligibility questions we are asked most frequently. It is the first in a series on HDHP/HSA arrangements, and we hope that together these posts will provide a useful overview on implementing an HDHP/HSA arrangement." (Verrill Dana, LLP)

The Most Tax-Savvy Use of a Health Savings Account
"You can choose to use the money in your HSA to cover [recent bills], or you can pay the [bills] out-of-pocket and let the HSA money accumulate. To the extent you don't use the money in the HSA to pay for medical expenses while you're working, or you use your healthcare dollars wisely so you have money left over at the end of the year, you have it saved up for retirement." (Forbes.com LLC)

2011 Form 8889 and Instructions for HSA Reporting
"Form 8889 is used by HSA holders as an attachment to Form 1040, but we think employers and advisors working with HSAs should have a basic understanding of its scope. We note that the 2011 instructions do not highlight one likely source of confusion arising from something health care reform did not change about the HSA rules." (Thomson Reuters/EBIA)

Companies Go to High-Deductible Health Plans
"In plans where deductibles are covered by a health savings or health reimbursement account, workers have to pay an average deductible of $1,908, a 2011 Kaiser survey showed. Traditional health plans, on average, have deductibles well under $1,000." (USATODAY.com)

2011 Survey of Employers Utilizing HSA Programs
(Free product.) 'The survey [conducted by Buck Consultants on behalf of ACS/The HSA Solution] [involves] demographics, behaviors, and opinions of individuals that own accounts." (BuckSurveys.com; registration required)

2011 Survey of Health Savings Account Holders
"The survey [conducted by Buck Consultants on behalf of ACS/The HSA Solution] was divided into several categories that allowed for the analysis of account holder demographics, participation with their health plan, selection and use of the HSA, behavior related to medical service usage, and satisfaction with product features." (BuckSurveys.com)

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