The benefits education gap

For the majority of American businesses offering benefits today, health savings accounts (HSAs) are an essential element of a comprehensive health care benefits package. Yet, employees continue to struggle with how to best optimize their HSAs. For example, the 2022 Mid-Year Devenir HSA Report shows that only 7% of health savings accounts have a portion of their money invested, and even then, investment of HSA assets has historically been limited to accounts with larger balances.  We believe that a main reason for this lack of investment participation is due to benefits education more often being focused on HSAs as a spending vehicle rather than being positioned as a retirement and savings vehicle.

That might be beginning to change. The recently released Plan Sponsor Council of America's (PSCA) 2022 Health Savings Account Survey finds that half of the 450 employers surveyed indicated that they do or will position the HSA as part of a retirement savings strategy to employees. It also found that automatically enrolling employees in HSAs increases saving rates.

The HSA Bank 2022 Health & Wealth Index confirms a continuing need to increase employees' overall awareness, understanding and confidence concerning their physical, mental and financial wellbeing. It remains a high priority for all consumers — and a timely opportunity for America's employers as they seek out new ways to attract, engage and retain top talent.

Yet, educating employees about their health care options and the role of an HSA in meeting current and future needs as well as serving as an investment vehicle for retirement remains a challenge.  Sixty percent of employers surveyed by PSCA provide education about HSAs only during open enrollment or when onboarding employees. Incorporating HSA education as part of a broader financial wellness program throughout the year with multiple touch points, perhaps alongside retirement plan education, would help reframe HSAs as attractive investment opportunities.

Many employers are overwhelmed with questions from employees about HSA benefits, resulting in frustration from a lack of awareness of the products available.  Additionally, employers have had difficulty in understanding how to make progress with their HSA programs due to a lack of comparative context to other employers and businesses similar to their own.

In response to this need, HSA Bank launched an enhanced employer portal earlier this year. In the same way that successful businesses listen to the needs of their customers, HSA Bank addressed the needs of its employer clients by developing benchmarking data and other tools to assist employers in improving their programs. By providing the right information and communications to employees, employers can make informed decisions, save for health care costs, and plan for retirement.

What to look for in an employer portal

1. The best employer portal is the result of client feedback and balances the need for easy transactional capabilities, program analytics, and insights that are meaningful to each employer's specific program. Overall, employers should not only be able to quickly evaluate the status of employee accounts, make contributions, and access reporting, but also should be able to access concise insights and data to determine if their program is successful and meeting business goals.
2. Program optimization embedded in user experience: For example, the incorporation of behavioral science and visual metrics, to give employers a benchmark where they stand among their peers and their industry, and a path to move the metrics that matter most to their individual company can demonstrate significant value.
3. HR teams should be able to get guidance, resources, and streamlined access to proven employee engagement tools to make it easier for employees to save money on health benefits and taxes by combining decision support tools and other savings solutions with data-driven recommendations and actionable steps.

Related: HSAs: An important tool to combat economic uncertainty

As employers continue to seek more robust tools to improve their ability to encourage employees to save and spend for a healthy future, providers such as HSA Bank are at the forefront of developing solutions through new enhancements that increase employers' confidence in their benefits strategy through a better understanding of employee information needs, the ability to predict outcomes, and an overall increased understanding of their plan performance.

Kevin Robertson, CRO, HSA Bank