As everyone knows, Health Care Reform is on everyone’s mind right now. At Group Health Solutions Inc., we have compiled information to assist our clients and future clients. As we continue in the coming weeks, we will begin to post information both on our blog and on our primary website location. Stay tuned as we will continue to post updates and information as we get it.

As the Northeast finally is settling into some nice weather, I am excited for Spring to arrive.  It has been a busy year for 2010, thus far.

A health savings account is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to all the taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan. It was created by the Medicare bill signed by President Bush and are designed to help individuals save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.

As we now know that a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a special account owned by an individual used to pay for current and future medical expenses. HSAs are often used in conjunction with a “High Deductible Health Plan” (HDHP). It is a kind of insurance that does not cover first dollar medical expenses. It can be an HMO, PPO or indemnity plan, as long as it meets the requirements.

Some of the classic examples where in HSA kicks in are:

• Specific disease or illness insurance and accident
• Disability, dental care, vision care and long-term care insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Disease management program or wellness program

These programs must not provide significant benefits in the nature of medical care or treatment.

It also gives the benefits in programs such as a drug discount card.

Here is further information about how one can extract more benefits from the HSA. Unspent HSA money automatically rolls year to year and those funds can either earn interest or be invested into participating mutual funds for greater returns - potentially building a tax-free nest egg for healthcare costs. While it sounds like a win-win for both employers and employees, it’s still a hard sell for some companies. With some current healthcare deductibles as low as $150, employees may get put off by HSA’s much higher ones. And there’s something disconcerting about paying the entire cost of a doctor’s visit up-front, rather than the standard $15 or $20 co-payment.

HSA participants are no longer bound by referrals to receive medical care and, in some cases physicians are willing to negotiate lower prices for up-front payment because it saves them the trouble of dealing with insurance companies.

Please be advised that HSAs aren’t for everyone. Sit with a financial advisor before investing in it. Keep in mind that while savings are accumulating in the first year, if there is a sudden expensive health emergency, you may not necessarily have the funds to cover it in your HSA. That mean you’re responsible for those out-of-pockets costs.

Effective August 17th, we are proud to announce some new promotions and new hires.  Linson Abraham has been promoted to Team Lead of Account Management.  Julian Keogh has been promoted to Account Manager.  We have also permanently hired Andrew Cookro as executive assistant.

Please join us in congratulating our new promotions and new hires.  You can find their contact information on the contact us page.