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

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.

calculate a weighted average contribution margin per unit, Part A   ...

Part A   The contribution margin income statement of Nice Cup Company for 31 December 2011 follows: Nice Cup Company   Contribution Mar

A realized gross profit, On December 15, 2011 Risby Sales Co. sold a track ...

On December 15, 2011 Risby Sales Co. sold a track of land that cost $3,600,000 for $4,500,000. Rigsby appropriately uses the installment sale method of accounting for this transact

Statement of cash flows, Statement of Cash Flows - A statement of cash flow...

Statement of Cash Flows - A statement of cash flows is one of the fundamental financial statements which is required as part of a complete set of financial statements prepared in c

Present value.., natasha kingrey to calculate present value of salary diffe...

natasha kingrey to calculate present value of salary differential for completing mba

Expected opportunity loss decision criterion, The construction manager for ...

The construction manager for Acme, Inc. must decide whether to build single-family homes, apartments, or condominiums. She estimates annual profits will vary with the economy, as f

What is stock split, Q. What is Stock Split? Stock Split - Increase in ...

Q. What is Stock Split? Stock Split - Increase in number of shares of a company's COMMON STOCK outstanding that result from the issuance of additional shares proportionally to

Breach of trust-trusts laws and accounts, BREACH OF TRUST Remedies avai...

BREACH OF TRUST Remedies available to beneficiary: Injunction, Personal action, Criminal liability. Defence of trusts: He may be relieved from liability if, in the opini

Resulting trusts-trusts laws and accounts, Resulting trusts Resulting t...

Resulting trusts Resulting trusts occur where equity regards the property which is held by a trustee as belonging in equity to the person who transferred it to, or caused it to

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