Personal Funding Accounts

  • Personal funding accounts offer your business a consumer-driven approach to improving the bottom line—combining quality healthcare coverage with a choice of tax-advantaged healthcare spending accounts.

    Personal funding accounts:

    • Give employees more choice and control over their healthcare spending
    • Encourage a more health-conscious, productive and satisfied workforce
    • Help employees offset out-of-pocket expenses with potential tax advantages
    • Minimize costs and add an affordable healthcare program to the total compensation package
    • Personal Funding Accounts take advantage of potential tax savings for your business (please consult a tax advisor regarding IRS guidelines)

    With LifeWise, you can provide personal funding account options with the following key features to make the transition smooth and maximize the effectiveness:

    • Claims feed integration – reduces lag time and questions about claims
    • Easy account accessibility – all through our website with options via telephone
    • Healthcare payment card option – for Metallic HSA and FSA plans
    • All through LifeWise – seamless integration of set-up and administration with your health plan

    The Basics of Personal Funding Accounts

    LifeWise offers the following personal funding account options. After choosing your group benefit plan, you may pair it with one or, in some instances more, of the following:

  • HSAs are employee-owned, tax-advantaged, fully portable accounts that work in combination with a qualified, high- deductible health plan. With an HSA, employees will have the opportunity to:

    • Save tax free for current and future medical costs
    • Choose whether and when to withdraw funds, tax-free, to pay for qualified medical expenses
    • Carry unused funds from year to year, allowing those funds to grow tax-deferred
    • Employee contributions are made pre-tax, saving both the employee and the employer taxes

    Review this HSA solution flyer

    HRAs are employer-owned and -funded arrangements that members can use to pay their cost-share for covered expenses. It is important to note that HRAs are not portable. If the employee leaves the company, any unused portion of the HRA (after all prior claims have been paid) reverts back to the employer.

    FSAs are employer-sponsored, tax-advantaged healthcare spending accounts that members can use to pay for eligible expenses. Here are a few things to know about FSAs:

    • Employee contributions are made pre-tax
    • Employer contributions are tax-deductible
    • FSA funds do not roll over for future use: “Use it or lose it”
    • The employer is not permitted to refund any part of the balance to the employee

    Review this FSA solution flyer

  • Ready to Purchase a Personal Funding Account?

    Once you’ve worked with your producer or LifeWise sales team to determine which Personal Funding Account is right for your group, use these tools to make sure your plan is active on the effective date:

  • Forms are due by the 5th of the month

    Completed enrollment materials for new groups must be received at LifeWise for HRA and HSA products for small groups beginning coverage on the first of the following month to ensure eligibility is active on the effective date, and accounts are funded.

    Completed renewal materials for renewing groups must be received at LifeWise for HRA and HSA products for small groups renewing contracts on the first of the following month to ensure eligibility is active on the effective date, and accounts are funded.

    ADDITIONAL FORMS REQUIRED FOR HSA PLANS

    ADDITIONAL FORMS REQUIRED FOR HRA PLANS

  • If you have additional questions regarding funding arrangements, please contact us.

    This material is not intended to be tax or legal advice. The reader should consult with his or her own tax advisor to determine the tax implications of purchasing the products discussed herein. Advice, if any, included in this material was not intended or written by LifeWise to be used, and it cannot be used, by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.