Open-enrollment season often exposes the gaps in knowledge about certain elements of health packages available to employees. One that seems to constantly befuddle the choice-makers is the difference between those closely related acronyms — HSA and FSA — each of which has critical elements that make them unique.

The confusion reported by consumers around the various attributes of the acronym dynamic duo is almost staggering, given the many years plan advisors have been attempting to explain the differences. The Society for Human Resource Management says that three-quarters of respondents to a survey about the various plans did not know the key differences.

So, again, here are the distinctions:

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.

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