Setting up a real health savings account program for a small employer is different from reading about the programs in a sales brochure.
Here are some lessons we have learned by administering real HSAs.
1 Technology Matters
If you really want to put employees in the drivers seat, they have to be able to see through the windshield. That means you have to give them access to information about their HSA account balances, investment options and health information through the same Web site.
For employees who don't have Internet access, you have to deliver information through the telephone.
Administrators also have to come up with new procedures for working directly with medical providers to handle claims.
2 Banking Is A Big Deal
Employees need an automated claim-payment system that will give them the ability to pay the right amount while they are in the doctors office.