Its not just about saving money, its giving your employees another option in managing their own healthcare, while making them responsible consumers.

One of the major problems with current health insurance plans, is the fact that employees are unaware of the true costs for health care services. Most employees actually think a visit to the doctor only costs their typical co pay amount of $20. Even if the visit is not really necessary, at $20 there is little incentive not to see the friendly doctor.

With a HSA plan, copays are eliminated and employees quickly become responsible consumers as they are now aware of the true cost of that visit.

In addition, when you switch from a traditional health plan to a Qualified HSA plan, you could save up to 50% on your annual premiums. Along with this cost saving, pre-tax contributions reduce your payroll, FICA and social security tax.

Savings-_______________________________________________________________^ top

Its no secret that raising the deductible of your health plan can save money, but what will be the reaction of our workforce? HSA premiums are 30-40% less then traditional health plans. The price for this savings can really hurt your employees as their deductible could rise from $250 to $2500! To compensate them for taking this added risk, employers typically refund 50-80% of the premium savings back to the employees as "Employer Contributions" to each employees Health Savings Account. So where is the savings? In the 2nd year, your premium went from $1,000,000 to $600,000. The renewal rate is 5% on $600,000 instead of 30% of $1,000,000. In year two your premium is $630,000 instead of $1,300,000. That is your Savings!

Employer Participation - The Most Common Questions
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My employees want to contribute to their HSAs but want to make sure they get a tax benefit out of doing so. How does that work?
Employee contributions can be made to HSAs on either after-tax or pre-tax basis. If made on an after-tax basis they should be counted as an above-the-line deduction on their tax return, effectively making their contributions tax-free. If they want to make the contribution pre-tax it can be done through a Section 125 (also called a “salary reduction” or “cafeteria plan”).

How much do I have to contribute to my employees’ HSA, as an employer?
As much or as little as you want (while staying below the legal limit on the account of $2,900 or $5,800 for employees with family coverage).(2008 Limits)

Do HSA contributions have to be made in equal amounts each month?
No, you can contribute in a lump sum or in any amounts or frequency you wish. However, keep in mind that the funds belong to the employee after they are deposited.

As an employer, do I have to contribute the same amount to every employee’s HSA?
Employer contributions must be “comparable”, that is they must be in the same dollar amount or same percentage of the employee’s deductible for all employees in the same “class”. You can vary the level of contributions for “full-time” vs. “part-time” employees, and employees with “self-only” coverage vs. “family coverage”. You do not need to consider employees who do not have HDHP coverage as they are not eligible for HSA contributions.

Our company offers benefits through a Section 125 plan, do contributions have to be comparable under these plans as well?
Section 125 plans (also known as “salary reduction” or “cafeteria” plans) must meet a different set of rules. Under these plans, contributions (both from employer and/or employee) must meet “non-discrimination” rules. These rules require the employer to ensure that contributions do not favor higher compensated employees.

Our company wants to offer “matching” contributions, can we do that?
Yes, but your company can only offer “matching” contributions through a Section 125 plan. Remember that the non-discrimination rules still apply.

I don’t offer health insurance, but some of my employees have opened HSAs and I’d like to help them out, what can I do?
Your company can make pre-tax contributions to your employees’ HSAs as long as you do so for all eligible employees. However, the comparability rules apply. If you have a Section 125 plan, then the non-discrimination rules apply.

Advantages to the S-Corp Owner
Owners of S corporations find themselves in a difficult tax position regarding health insurance. If you own more than 2 percent of the S corp, your portion of health care premiums is not deductible. However, if you adopt a HSA health plan, you can contribute to an HSA, regardless of percentage ownership or income. However, these contributions must be made with "after tax" dollars. You will only use the FICA/FUCA deduction and take an "Above the Line" deduction during tax time.

As an employer, you can contribute to an HSA on behalf of an employee. This contribution is deductible to the employer and beneficial to the employee. There are comparability regulations, that can be avoided if the employer contributions are run throuhg a 125. There is a bit of flexibility in the 223 regulations as employers are not required to make equivalent contributions to highly compensated employees’ HSAs. In addition, if the employer contributes to the non-highly compensated group, the employer can discriminate among highly compensated employees.

How are contributions treated for owners and shareholders of S corps?
Owners and officers with greater than 2% share of a Subchapter S corporation cannot make pre-tax contributions to their HSAs through the company by salary reduction. In addition, any contributions made to their HSAs by the corporation are taxable as income. However, they can make their own personal contributions to their HSAs and take the "above-the-line" deduction on their personal income taxes.

How are contributions treated for partners in a partnership or limited liability company (LLC)?
Partners in a partnership or LLC cannot make pre-tax contributions to their HSAs through the partnership by salary reduction. However, they can make their own personal contributions to their HSAs and take the "above-the-line" deduction on their personal income taxes.

May a self-employed person contribute to an HSA on a pre-tax basis?
No. Self-employed persons may not contribute to an HSA on a pre-tax basis and may not take the amount of their HSA contribution as a deduction for SECA purposes. However, they may contribute to an HSA with after-tax dollars and take the above-the-line deduction.

Tax Treatment of Health Savings Account (HSA) for Employers
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Rules For Reporting Premium Costs and HSA Contributions
Contributions into an HSA can be made either by an individual or by an employer. If the individual makes the contribution, the amount is DEDUCTIBLE from the individual’s TOTAL INCOME (Line 22 on the current version (2004) of Form 1040).

If the employer makes the contribution, the amount is EXCLUDABLE from the employee’s WAGES (Line 7 on the current version (2004) of Form 1040). The excluded amount is supposed to be noted on the employee’s W-2 paperwork.
If the employer pays for all of the employees’ high-deductible insurance premiums, only the employer is entitled to deduct this sum as a business expense.

LLC (Limited Liability Companies) and LLP (Limited Liability Partnerships)
Small organizations often operate as an LLC. Under the current tax laws, single-owner LLCs are taxed as if they were sole proprietorships. LLCs with multiple owners get the same tax treatment as a partnership unless they elect to be treated as a corporation. LLPs get the same tax treatment as a partnership. Thus, there are no special tax advantages between LLCs or LLPs under the HSA program.

C and S Corporations
With a “regular” or C Corporation, your business must pay its own income tax on the taxable profits of your corporation. The tax rate for corporations varies by a few percentage points from what is due from married or single taxpayers. Personal service corporations (doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc) are taxed at a flat rate of 35 percent of their net profit for the year. If you and others pay yourselves a salary from a C corporation, your health insurance premium costs are a business deduction for the corporation. If you and others are drawing a salary from the income that derives from your corporate business, each of you have to pay a personal income tax on that income. After-salary profits are taxed to the corporation. Upon eventual distribution of the profits you and others pay tax again – the dreaded “double tax” on the distributed profits on your personal tax return.

Tax rules for a “special” or S Corporation are similar to those for a partnership, i.e., you pay tax on your salary and your share of after-salary profits. If an individual’s shareholding in an “S” Corporation is more than 2 percent, that person is eligible to deduct the cost of company-paid health insurance premiums as a gross income “adjustment” on the Form 1040. Other shareholders are treated as employees in the manner of C Corporations.

Corporations reporting taxable income (profits) of less than $100,000 qualify for a significantly lower corporate tax rate. Many small corporations therefore strive to find as many business deductions as possible, to get under the $100,000 limit. HSAs are a new way to get there. Because owner salaries and compensation are deductible as a corporate business expense, contributions into an HSA can cut both the corporate tax and income tax at the same time.

Because of the non-discrimination rules for HSA contributions, a corporation with many employees will set a practical limit on contributions to all its employees, large and small.

Excluding Contributions From An Employee's Taxable Income
On a payroll you must calculate withholding in accordance with government tables to cover the employee’s income tax. Federal Income Tax requires this withholding, as do the majority of states that have State and/or Local Income Tax. Contributions to HSAs on behalf of employees are exempt from these taxes, and join the list of other forms of worker compensation that are not taxed:

• Generally all health coverage policy premiums
• Generally all employer contributions to employee retirement plans
• All worker’s compensation premiums or benefits
• Extra sick pay or disability (after the first six months)
• Reimbursements for moving expenses, parking garages, public transit (subject to certain limits)
• Reimbursements for business expenses by employees (T & E) when these are accounted for to the employer

More Tax Relief for Employers
In addition to withholding for income tax, you must withhold a percentage of each employee’s pay for Social Security and Medicare under The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (otherwise known as FICA) towards the benefits they will one day receive from Social Security and Medicare.
In tax year 2004, the tax rate of a paycheck is 7.65%:
• 6.20 percent for Social Security
• 1.45 percent for Medicare

But wait, there’s more:
An employer must also pay an equal amount of taxes to the government on behalf of the employee. And, pay the employer's share of FICA on behalf of each worker.

For highly paid employees, there is a FICA ceiling.
For tax year 2004, the company does not have to pay FICA once it has paid the first $87,900 in wages per person. There is no Medicare ceiling; no matter what the company pays its highest-paid worker, the company still has to take out the Medicare tax.

Under the HSA program, employer contributions to worker HSAs are not subject to any of these taxes, nor are they considered to be gross wages when calculating a variety of other taxes, such as Withholding Unemployment Tax (FUTA). Unemployment tax benefits are regulated by a combined state and federal program. Just like income tax, the company has to withhold both a federal tax (FUTA) and a state unemployment tax. The current percentage for federal withholding for FUTA is 6.2%. It is a single flat rate, paid up to a ceiling on the first $7,000 of a worker’s pay.

The company’s state unemployment tax rate will vary from state to state. The company may also have to pay Disability Insurance Tax. In certain states (notably New York and California) this is a tax that pays for a mandated state disability insurance program must be paid and/or withheld by the employer. Under current federal rules, employer contributions to worker HSAs are exempted from these taxes as well.

Setting Up Your Payroll For HSAs
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• Obtain Employer Identification Number (EIN) for your business. You must do this if you plan to pay wages to at least one other person beside yourself. To apply for a number, use IRS form SS-4. You can do this online.
  
• Decide how frequently you’will issue paychecks (Weekly? Biweekly? Monthly?).
  
• Decide which of your workers are full time employees. Some of your help may wish to be paid as independent contractors, if eligible.
  
• Obtain a completed withholding application (W-4 form), Social Security Number, for each employee.
  
• Make a note to file 1099s for each independent contractor you expect to pay more than $600 in this tax year.
  

Working With the W-2

Each employee gets a W-2 by January 31st for the previous tax year. Copies of each employee’s form are also sent to the IRS in early February, along with a summary sheet, the Transmittal of Wage And Tax Statements, also known as IRS Form W-3. Employees who leave your company before the tax year is over may also request a copy of their W-2 earlier, so they can see what the total taxes were relating to their employment.

Wages (plus tips and compensation) for each employee are totaled for the year in Box 1. The amount of wages subject to Social Security (the first $87,900 of wages) goes into Box 3. The amount of wages subject to Medicare tax (everything after the first $400) goes into Box 5.

The amount of withholding for each tax (Box 2, 4, 6) should equal the amount you’ve already paid in monthly and quarterly installments. For how to calculate withholding, see IRS publication #15-T.

Not everyone will use Boxes 7-11. These report Social Security paid on tips and gratuities, hardship advances for those who will qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC).

“Non-Qualified Plans” are other payouts made by the employer on behalf of the employee that may not be tax-exempt from FICA or other payroll taxes. These include distributions from pension plans, IRAs, and profit-sharing plans. For example, if an employee leaves and “cashes out” vested pension funds, the sum is noted on the W-2, and the employee will be responsible for the taxes.

Where then, are the deductions for a company’s contributions to an employee’s HSA? They are tucked away in Box 12, and identified with a special code “W.”

Under Code “W”
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Box 12 is the section reserved for payments that generally will be tax-exempt from gross income, and hence from gross income taxes. These include income deferred via a 401(k) plan (Code “D”), Moving Expenses (Code “P”) and salary reductions to a SIMPLE (Code “S”).
Employer contributions to a Health Savings Account are Code “W.” So, in Box 12, if you made a $200 contribution to a worker’s HSA, you’ll indicate this by “200.00 W”.

If you do a W-2 for yourself or a spouse, this is where you will indicate your contribution to your own HSAs. If you contributed $4,500 to your HSA, write down “4500.00 W”.

On the employee’s tax return, any figure that appears in Box 12 must be matched up as a pre-tax adjustment on the 1040. This is how the IRS will track HSA deductions. This is how they make sure that when the employer makes the contribution, only the employer gets the tax benefits.

Box 13 requires you to check off squares if the worker was exempt from any withholding (part time worker or agent paid only by commissions), or “actively participated” in any qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock-bonus plan, including 401(k) SEP or SIMPLE plans. (Again, this is an IRS match point.)

Box 14 is reserved for other adjustments, which are non-elective, such as required employer-employee matching contributions to pension plans. Another match point. Boxes 15-20 are where you report wages and withholding payments for state and local tax.

This should get your company’s accounting and payroll up to speed on HSAs.

Coordinating with Cafeteria & Flexible Benefit Plans
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Flexible benefit plans (FSAs) can co-exist alongside of an HSA Plan, however individuals should not pay for medical expenses out of the Flex Plan (individuals may want to allocate money for dental or vision in the flex plan.)

The HSA legislation allows for individuals to contribute to an HSA through a cafeteria plan, if employee contributions are not run through your 125 plan, employee's HSA contributions can not be made with pre-tax dollars. If your company does not have a 125 plan, contact Great Lakes HSA and we will walk you through the process to ensure you are compliment with the 223 regs!
To find out more information about Cafeteria plans click here

HSAs Can Exist Above ERISA Rules
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The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) -- the administrative arm of the Department of Labor (DOL) -- issued guidance on April 7, 2004, confirming that employers can implement (and even contribute to) Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) without being subject to ERISA regulations.

Voluntary Safe Harbor Rules

According to Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-1, for an HSA program to avoid ERISA regs, it must meet the following four basic requirements:

• The program must be completely voluntary.
• An employer cannot endorse the program, but can administrate payroll functions and publicize the program.
• An employer may only receive reasonable compensation for payroll expenses.
• An employer can make no contributions (exceptions below).

There are certain circumstances in which an employer can contribute and still not be subject to ERISA. The following conditions must be satisfied:

Establishment of the HSA must be completely voluntary.

The employer cannot make or influence HSA fund investment decisions.

The employer cannot receive any compensation in connection with the HSA.

No conditions can be placed on the utilization of HSA funds beyond that permitted by the Code.

The employer must allow the employee to move funds to another HSA beyond that permitted by the Code.The employer cannot represent that the HSAs are established or maintained by the employer.

Conclusion

This long-awaited guidance is very positive. Overall, Field Assistance Bulletin 2004-1 should help increase HSA participation.

View the Entire Document - http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/regs/fab_2004-1.html

Setting up a Health Savings Account
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What do I have to do to “establish” my account?
Your account trustee/custodian will determine what you need to do, which may include completing and processing appropriate paperwork, and making a minimum deposit.

Who can help me establish my account?
Great Lakes HSA!!!!

My bank/credit union doesn’t offer HSAs, can I be my own trustee or custodian?
No, you must establish your HSA with an approved institution.

What is the difference between an HSA “custodian” and an HSA “trustee”?
The differences between a “custodian” and a “trustee” are minor. A trust is a legal entity under which assets are actually owned and held on behalf of a beneficiary. The trustee has some level of discretionary fiduciary authority over the assets of the fund. The trustee must exercise that authority in the best interests of the beneficiary. A custodial arrangement, on the other hand, is like a trust, but the custodian simply holds the assets on behalf of the owner of the assets. Other than holding the assets and doing as the owner orders, the custodian has no fiduciary obligations to the owner. The determination of what constitutes a trust or custodial arrangement is a determination made under state law.

Can couples establish a “joint” account and both make contributions to the account, including “catch-up” contributions?
“ Joint” HSA accounts are not permitted. Each spouse should consider establishing an account in their own name. This allows you to both make catch-up contributions when each spouse is 55 or older.

Must couples open separate accounts?
If both husband and wife are eligible to contribute to an HSA, they are both eligible to establish separate HSAs. However, if both spouses want to make “catch-up” contributions when they are age 55+, they must establish separate accounts.

How soon can I open my account?
Your account can be established as early as the effective date of your HDHP coverage. However, if your coverage begins on any day other than the first day of the month, you cannot establish your account until the first day of the following month.

I want to make sure my HSA is “established” as soon as possible. Can I establish my account before my HDHP coverage begins?
You can complete all the paperwork and make a minimum deposit to your account prior to the effective date of your HDHP coverage. However, your account is not officially “established” until your HDHP coverage begins. But completing the necessary steps before your coverage begins ensures that your HSA will be “established” as early as possible. This is especially important when your HDHP coverage is effective on a non-business day.