Helping employees understand the benefits of an HSA (like any new HSA user), takes time and resources. In order to make the HSA education and engagement process easier for employers and employees, we have outlined our best practices.

Our employee HSA education guide will help you get HSA strategies in place from day 1 so employees can take advantage of the triple-tax benefits immediately.

HSA Employee Education Tips

Opening, establishing and contributing to an HSA should be easy. It shouldn’t be rocket science, that’s at least what we think at Lively! Here is what every employee needs to know to get started with their new HSA:

1. Confirm HSA-Eligibility

2. Understand Contributions Limits

3. Open and Establish their HSA

4. How to Rollover or Transfer an Existing HSA

5. Automating HSA Contributions

6. Use an HSA Debit Card for Eligible Purchases

7. Review HSA Investment Options

No employer health or financial situation is the same. Once employees have opened an HSA, customizing HSA strategies can help each and every eligible employee take advantage of their HSA benefits. This will better ensure success (and renewal). Let’s look at two likely employee HSA scenarios:

• HSA Saver – HSA savers are more focused on the long-term savings value of an HSA. They can invest their funds or simply take advantage of FDIC-Insured interest bearing HSA accounts. Thereby taking advantage of compound interest and save HSA funds for future health costs.

• HSA Spender – These employees are using pre-tax HSA funds to pay for expected and unexpected health costs. They can use their dedicated HSA funds to reduce their out-of-pocket health expense liability.

Many HSA account holders are a mix of both. Helping employees save for health costs today and plan for anticipated health costs well into retirement will only increase HSA adoption.

Employee Engagement and Support

Things come up. Employees get stuck. We get it. We have been through it ourselves. Making sure on-demand support options are available for employees is crucial in this process. It saves everyone time. Employee HSA education is an ongoing process. So we created an on-demand resource center to help – from an HSA FAQs to HSA saving calculators. We backed it all up with a dedicated customer service team to answer employee questions via email, phone or chat (via our website).

Don’t Forget! Talk About Retirement & Health Costs

Many employees are stuck on a year-to-year ferris wheel when it comes to health insurance and cost planning. Employees are forced into rising yearly health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Not planning for health costs in retirement – which are expected to exceed $275,000 per couple – can be a financial mistake. Employees can use their HSA to plan and save for retirement. In fact, an HSA might be the new stealth IRA.

Opening an HSA is easy (at least at Lively). Helping employees understand the value of an HSA should be too. Use this employee HSA guide to fast-track benefits education to save employees time.