Employers and HR teams want the best for employees, which is why they invest money and time into designing benefit plans that will meet the needs of workers and their dependents.
However, with five different generational groups currently in the workforce – all with very unique needs – it’s becoming increasingly difficult for employers to please everyone with the benefits they offer.
Whether it’s fertility and well-child support for millennials, prevention and mental health benefits for Gen Xers, or chronic condition management and travel benefits for baby boomers, your employees will all use their benefits in different ways.
While your company-sponsored health plan may not be able to fully meet all of these needs, by offering a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA), you can help ease the pain of rising healthcare costs and continued inflation, while bridging the gap between the benefits you offer and what employees actually want and need. To ensure that employees derive more value from their health benefits and their FSA or HSA, organizations need to educate their teams about account eligibility and how to use funds to supplement, or fill in the gaps, in health plan coverage.
Start by encouraging employees to use a comprehensive, searchable FSA and HSA eligibility list, and consider these five surprising ways that employees can use their FSA or HSA to bridge the gap in their covered benefits.
Doctor Visits
Health insurance is second only to salary as an element of employee compensation. Meanwhile, premium costs have outpaced inflation and, in many cases, grown faster than wages. FSAs and HSAs can be used to pay for a wide variety of clinical services and an employee’s share of the out-of-pocket expenses before they’ve met their deductible. For clinical services that often are not fully covered by health plans – things like acupuncture, fertility treatments, orthodontics and dental treatments, and Lasik surgery – an employee can use their tax-free funds to bridge the coverage gap.
In addition, these accounts can provide financial support in the event that employees have to go out of network for care.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications
As cold-and-flu season kicks off and the country is seeing a resurgence in COVID cases, make sure employees understand that they can use FSA and HSA funds to purchase OTC medications like pain and fever reducers, cough medicine, nasal decongestants, throat lozenges, and neti pots. This is also a good opportunity for employees to replace expired products like sunscreen and first-aid supplies.
While your health plan may cover doctor visits for these needs, OTC medications are an out-of-pocket expense for employees, and a perfect option for FSA and HSA funds.
Everyday Wellness Products
Employees will be surprised to learn that many of the health and wellness products they use every day can be purchased with FSA and HSA funds. This can include things like acne medications for teenage dependents, nursing supplies or prenatal vitamins for new and expectant moms, athletic tape and braces for sports and adventure enthusiasts, and products to support digestive health. It’s also important that employees understand how tax-free funds can be used for everyday items like hearing aids, glasses and contacts.
For employees who have tax dependents who are living away from home, such as college-aged kids, suggest ordering an FSA or HSA debit card for them to use for such expenses. This gives everyone peace of mind that their wellbeing is covered.
Chronic Condition Management
Managing chronic conditions is critical to maintaining overall wellbeing, reducing healthcare costs, and supporting workplace productivity. Help employees understand that FSAs and HSAs can be used to purchase monitoring and diagnostic devices (things like blood pressure and glucose monitors, pulse oximeters, and personal EKG devices) to manage long-term health needs.
Employees can also use tax-free funds to purchase maintenance medications. Be sure to promote any available mail order discount programs for purchasing a 90-day supply of medication and how using an FSA or HSA debit card can simplify these purchases.
Lifestyle Management
While most health plans do not provide coverage for lifestyle needs, an FSA or HSA can cover many of these costs. For example, account funds can be used to purchase medical kits for outdoor adventure lovers, nausea relief for travel enthusiasts, pain relief products and devices for athletes, and a variety of nursing products and breast pumps for new parents.
When it comes to health and wellbeing benefits, enrolling is only part of the equation. To ensure greater employee engagement, appropriate utilization, and high satisfaction, employers and HR teams can help employees connect the dots between health plan coverage and their tax-free FSA or HSA funds. These efforts will not only support open enrollment outcomes but will contribute to HR outcomes throughout the year.
Jenna Everhart is senior vice president of human resources for Health-E Commerce, parent brand to FSA Store and HSA Store, the first and leading online stores for exclusively eligible FSA and HSA shopping, education, and employer solutions.