Question

Case analyses are expected to show critical thinking and be adequately supported with more than one cited reference and in-text citations to support your thoughts. One of these references may be the textbook. Each paper should include a synopsis of the issue at hand and an analysis of what should happen next for the particular situation. Each paper will be written using APA format and be at least 1-2 double-spaced pages (not including cover sheet, references, etc).

Case

Susan Berry just returned from a national conference on compensation and benefits where she attended a session on health savings accounts (HSAs). Susan is the human resources director at Frontline PR, and the company has been struggling with the cost of health care insurance. After speaking with several experts at the conference, Susan now thinks an HSA might be a viable option for the company. Frontline PR is a public relations firm located in the Northeast that employs close to 150 people in four different offices. Public relations professionals make up most of the staff, but the company also employs a complete administrative and operations staff. All of Frontline’s employees work full-time schedules and are eligible to participate in its health care insurance plan. Frontline currently offers a standard fee-for-services health care insurance option. The plan has a modest deductible of $300 per year and a 20 percent coinsurance requirement. In addition, the company offers a flexible spending account (FSA) that allows employees to set aside pretax earnings to pay for the deductible, coinsurance, and other medical expenses. Susan is considering offering an HSA along with a high-deductible health insurance plan instead of the current insurance plan and FSA. At the conference, Susan learned that making such a change could result in significant cost savings for a company. The high-deductible health insurance plan would cost a lot less for the company than the standard fee-for-services plan that Frontline currently offers. While Susan suggests that Frontline make contributions to each employee’s HSA, the overall costs for the health care benefit would still be less than its current option. Beyond cost savings on premiums, many believe that consumer-driven health care tends to reduce overall health care costs. Some of the experts Susan spoke to at the conference stated that when employees have a greater say in their health care decisions, they make wiser decisions and do not spend as much on health care. Susan has discussed the HSA option with Frontline’s director of finance, Allison Jones. From the financial perspective, Allison agrees that the option would be a good step to start controlling health care costs. However, as an employee who would use the benefit, Allison isn’t so sure that an HSA with a high-deductible health insurance plan is the right option for the company. Based on Susan’s initial explanation, Allison didn’t really understand how the HSA worked. Further, she was concerned that she would have to spend more out of pocket on her own health care. Susan is convinced that the HSA option would offer a significant cost savings to Frontline. However, after her discussion with Allison, Susan is still unsure if it is the right path to recommend for her company.

Questions:

10-6. What are some advantages of implementing the HSA option?

10-7. What are some potential disadvantages of the HSA option?

10-8. What do you recommend? Why?

Answer 1

10-6. The advantages of HSA elective is adaptable, which infers the specialist guarantees the record and they are at risk to swelling financing limits. They empower laborers to picked where they have to get remedial thought and they moreover can pick what kind of thought they need. There are a couple of points of interest by completing HSA (Health Savings Account) elective in the affiliation. For the business, through realizing HSA elective, the manager can ensure the prosperity and security of its specialists. This is similarly beneficial for the organizations to rouse agents about their prosperity and realize a workplace wellbeing program. The use of HSA decision moreover gives central focuses to the laborers to the extent of saving costs.

10-7. The potential burdens are the high deductible for these plans and "It will, in general, be difficult to investigate an HRA plan, especially if a business is executing one suddenly. Facilitating a third social affair executive improves the circumstance a significant sum, yet just a solitary one out of each odd manager is made also. Some may not set aside exertion to react to questions. Others may be moderate on their association assignments. That is the reason for putting aside exertion to investigate this subject before completing the preferred standpoint is so imperative. HSA is unquestionably not a notable option, master won't be typical, from this time forward it is a noteworthy test for the association to illuminate the advantages of the HSA to the agents. Authorities are progressively stressed over their out of pocket costs. The structure of HSA and high deductible therapeutic administrations assurance will affect certain workers to avoid preventive thought, which will incite numerous difficult issues and social protection costs later on.

10-8. I would recommend the association to stay with the current FSA plan in light of the fact that the HSA plan is going to cost them more per delegate so it would be useful for them to stay with the present prosperity plan that they at present have. My recommendation for Susan Berry is guarantee she instructs her laborers about the focal points and hindrances of having the HSA decision. I would moreover propose that she offer the HSA option in contrast to her laborers. I feel that offering the HSA option in contrast to her specialists would be useful and insightful for both the business and the agents. "The two supervisors and specialists can get a decent arrangement on security premiums with lower-cost HSA-qualified restorative inclusion plans and can contribute the venture assets to the agents' HSA. The equalities in the HSA can be used at agents' prudence to pay for present or future qualified social protection costs, while the evening out in the record can win premium free from government pay tax."The money goes in duty absolved, draws premium assessment excluded, and can be pulled back expense excluded at whatever point used for therapeutic expenses.