Did you know that 74% of employees say that having benefits customized to meet their needs is important when considering taking a new job? And that 72% say that having the ability to customize their benefits would increase their loyalty to their employer?

One way to give you employees more choice in their benefits is to offer spending accounts as part of your benefits package. These include health savings accounts (HSAs) for members of qualified high deductible health plans, health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), or flexible spending accounts (FSAs).

Spending accounts offer the flexibility your current employees want and may help attract the most talented people to your organization.

Health Spending Accounts Are In High Demand

Spending accounts are one of the fastest-growing trends in employee benefits.

According to the Healthcare Trends Institute’s latest Benefits Benchmark Survey employers reported at least 1/2 of their employees are enrolled in a spending account.

In the last decade, the amount of money in HSAs has grown more than 30x.

Source: Benefits Benchmarks Survey

Fact is, employees expect spending accounts as options for their health benefits, and more employers are taking notice and offering them. Are you meeting those expectations?

Flexibility For Your Employees, Savings For You

Employers and employees alike are realizing the perks of spending accounts. Here are just a few of those benefits:

Greater flexibility. Your employees can choose benefits to best meet their needs—many spending accounts even allow employees to choose how much they want to contribute each year.

Tax savings. FSAs and HSAs let your employees save for health expenses on a pre-tax basis (through a Section 125 plan). That means spending accounts can reduce their tax bill — and yours.

Greater opportunities to manage costs…and save.  Spending accounts can make it easier for your employees to manage expenses their health plan might not cover. Your employees can use them to pay for expenses now. And some options, such as HSAs (for those with qualified high deductible health plans), let them save for future health care expenses—like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) for health care.

Features Your Employees Want

Employees want extra conveniences that make it easier to manage their spending accounts.  So look for:

• A great online experience that makes it easier to manage contributions and spending.
• Educational information and tools to help them understand how their spending accounts work, how much they might be able to save, and which options might work best for them.
• Debit cards that make it easy to use their spending accounts. Your employees can just present their cards at any doctor’s office, hospital, or pharmacy that accepts them.
• Timely messaging about any action they need to take with respect to their spending accounts.

Offering Spending Accounts Will Help Attract Great Employees

When you’re looking at your options for spending accounts, make sure your vendor provides:

• A wide selection of options, including HSAs, HRAs, and FSAs.
• Expert support to answer questions and solve any problems you or your employees might have.
• Tools that make it easier and more efficient to enroll employees and manage benefits.
• Educational materials you can share with your employees.

And having spending accounts in your benefit package is only part of the picture. To make the most of their spending accounts, your employees must:

• Understand how spending accounts work.
• Know their options and which ones might make sense for their specific needs.
• See how they can save by using a spending account.

Work with your health insurer. Discuss your needs and come up with a plan to better assist your employees.

And share our guide to spending account basics with your employees: Spending Accounts 101