For all the business owners and Plan Sponsors out there – did you know your employees/Plan Members are being encouraged to spend your money?

We saw this typical year-end message from a dentist:

“Insurance is like a gift card. If you don’t use it, the remaining balance expires at the end of the year.”

Healthcare providers know that health and dental benefits typically renew at the end of the calendar year. So, they’re encouraging people to use up those benefits now. 

Let's break it down

The problem is, health and dental benefits are not like a gift card. A gift card has one, reasonable limit to it. Spend it, and it’s gone.

Benefits are in place to support Plan Member health in a variety of ways. If you add up all the available benefits a business offers employees that’s one giant gift card!

Think about the usage that’s possible if Plan Members spend their benefits in a typical plan. It might look like this:

• $1,000 (or more!) for drugs
• $1,000 for medical services and supplies
• $2,000 for paramedical
• $1,000 for dental

That’s a $5,000 gift card per employee, and that's not even an inflated plan!

Is that how you view your Group Benefits? A (nearly) blank cheque for each member of your team? Should Plan Members claim the maximum in each and every category just because they can?

The problem is, unlike a gift card that gets used up once, Group Benefits renew each year. When usage goes up one year (because Plan Members are “spending” instead of “using” their benefits), health and dental premiums do too. This means costs go up and business owners are on the hook for higher premiums. Either pay the increasing costs or cut your benefits.

The solution? A Health Spending Account (HSA)

HSAs put you, the business owner, back in control of your expenses. Set a budget that fits your business, then let Plan Members make claims as they like.

Sure, your team could spend their entire HSA each year. They might even make poor decisions to try and use it all up. But that doesn’t impact your costs the next year. You can continue providing the HSA benefit, and the Plan Members who need it will continue to have support for their healthcare expenses.

Give us a shout!

If you want to talk more about how HSAs can become a pillar of your Group Benefits, give us a shout. Our Growth Team are business owners and HSA users themselves who love to chat about benefits of Blendable Benefits. We're social! You can find us on X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more bite-sized content for business owners!