Hsa advantages , Financial Accounting

Assignment Help:

A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT AT FRONTLINE PR

Susan Berry just returned from a national conference on compensation and benefits where she attended a session on Health Savings Accounts (HAS). Susan is the Human Resources Director at Frontline PR and her company has been struggling with the cost of healthcare insurance. After speaking with several experts at the conference, Susan now thinks an HAS 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 they also employ a complete administrative and operations staff. All of Frontline's employees work full time schedules and are eligible to participate in their healthcare insurance plan. Frontline currently offers a standard fee-for-services healthcare 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 employee's to set aside pretax earnings to pay for the deductible, coinsurance, and other medical expenses. Susan is considering offering a HAS along with 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 a company than the standard fee-for-services plan that Frontline currently offers. While Susan suggest the Frontline make contributions to each employee's HAS, the overall costs for the healthcare benefit would still be less than its current option. Beyond cost savings on premiums, many believe that consumer-driven healthcare tends to reduce overall healthcare costs. Some of the experts Susan spoke to at the conference stated that when employees have a greater say in their healthcare decisions, they make wiser decisions and do not spend as much on healthcare. Susan has discussed the HAS 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 healthcare costs. However, as an employee who would use the benefit, Allison isn't so sure that an HAS 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 HAS worked. Further, she was concerned that she would have to spend more out of pocket on her own healthcare. Susan is convinced that the HAS 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:

1. What are some advantages of implementing the HSA option?

2. What are some potential disadvantages of the HAS option?

3. What do you recommend? Why?


Related Discussions:- Hsa advantages

implied exchange rate between usd and gbp , You have been provided with th...

You have been provided with the following information on a fixed-fixed USD-GBP currency swap, the spot exchange rate between USD and GBP, and the USD and GBP yield curves: Fi

Explain major factor of ifrs, a. Explain a major factor which led to the in...

a. Explain a major factor which led to the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). b. Explain how users of financial information benefit from IFRS.

Accrual Accounting-adjusting entry, What are some examples of adjusting ent...

What are some examples of adjusting entries that are made at the end of the accounting period to bring general lever accounts balance in accordance with GAAP.

Common Stock, What is the sales price of common stock when it was issued?

What is the sales price of common stock when it was issued?

What is the sampling unit, What is the objective of performing this test? W...

What is the objective of performing this test? What is the sampling unit? What is the population? These are the questions I am confused on the sampling and population I have som

Prepare the journal entry at the date of the bond issuance, On January 1, 2...

On January 1, 2012, Osborn Company sold 12% bonds having a maturity value of $800,000 for $860,651.79, which provides the bondholders with a 10% yield. The bonds are dated January

Business risk in company, Q. Business risk in company? Business risk is...

Q. Business risk in company? Business risk is the likelihood of a company experiencing changes in the level of its profit before interest as a result of changes in turnover or

Illustration of marked up by an additional amount, Illustration of marked u...

Illustration of marked up by an additional amount E Limited sent goods to its branch in Thika invoiced at selling price, which was cost plus 505 of cost.  On 1st July 20X2, the

The petition-bankruptcy, THE PETITION Petition by debtor : If the de...

THE PETITION Petition by debtor : If the debtor presents his own petition, a receiving order is made at once without a court hearing and an adjudication order may also be ma

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd