If you have a client who has been burned by adisappointing health savings account plan option before,trying to advise them on the strategy a second time can feelimpossible.

But a few subtle changes in messaging and plan design can make aworld of difference, and even your most reticent employer — andtheir employees — will be able to see the value in adoptingHSA-eligible plans.

First, when we talk about a “bad experience” with HSA plans,generally, we’re describing an employer who experienced low enrollment. Low enrollment constricts HSA savings,which can be significant. Consulting firm Mercer found HSA-eligibleplans cost 22 percent less than traditional plans, even factoringin employer contributions to HSAs.

There are a few common pitfalls that lead to poor enrollment,and a few key tweaks to communication strategy and plan design canmeaningfully improve the rollout and adoption of HSA-eligible plansfor your clients.

Messaging matters

When it comes to HSA adoption, messaging matters. Did yourclient previously refer to the HSA plan as a “high-deductible”plan? That’s the first mistake. When working with your client, youshould refer to the plan as the “HSA-eligible plan,” and advise herto do the same. The traditional plan should be called the “co-payplan.”

In announcing the new plan option, the employer should tellemployees right off the bat that the network and the payrolldeduction will be exactly the same between the HSA-eligible planand the co-pay plan. More on the plan design later, but it’simportant to lead with this when speaking to employees.

Why is this important? If employees see that the HSA-eligibleplan costs less, they will automatically think it is a worse plan.Many employers and brokers make the mistake of thinking employeeswill want to save an extra $10 or $15 per month, but that amount isnegligible to the employee if they think they’re downgrading theirinsurance.

As soon as the employer announces there is a new plan option,everyone will be wondering if it’s a downgrade and expecting theworst. Allay those fears by addressing them immediately: ”Everyone,we’ll have a new, HSA-eligible plan option this year. It will havethe same network and cost the same amount as our current plan. Thedifference is in the plan design.”

Improving the plan design

Speaking of plan design, this is the next piece brokers have toget right to bring an HSA-averse employer back on board.

Again, you don’t want the employer to charge less for theHSA-eligible plan, because a cheaper plan will actually deterenrollment, not bolster it. Instead, you should advise the employerto share any savings with employees through HSA contributions.

Second, do your best to have the same deductible andout-of-pocket maximum on the HSA-eligible plan. The goal here issimplicity in plan design.

In this scenario, your employer is able to explain “Okay, thenetwork and paycheck deduction are the same between theHSA-eligible and copay plans, so you’ll have to decide based on theplan design. Under the HSA-eligible plan, you have a $4,000deductible, but we’ll contribute $800 toward that figure. Afterthat, insurance covers everything.”

Then, when the client begins explaining the much morecomplicated copay plan, employees will naturally gravitate towardthe simpler HSA plan.

When explaining the differences in plan design, it is importantto use concrete healthcare scenarios as examples. “Here’s how theplan looks if you have the occasional doctor’s visit and oneprescription. Here’s what it looks like if you have a high-costepisode. Here’s what it looks like if you have multipleprescriptions.”

A lot of brokers and employers spend all of their timeexplaining HSAs to employees, focusing on the tax advantages andhow to open accounts. But they hardly spend any time on the actualHSA-eligible plan, which is what employees are really focusing onwhen they make their decision.

When employees have to choose based on plan design, not networksand payroll deductions, HSA-eligible plans become far moreattractive. Explaining the benefits of this strategy, as well asyour brokerage’s plan to support the client in rolling it out, willbe to key to selling averse employers on HSA plans.