As a broker my job is be informed of options for my clients, and present them. The job of the client is to ensure that they choose the option that best works for their Company and Employees.
Health Care Spending Accounts (HCSA) can help control the ongoing costs of benefit programs, but is not the solution for all Companies. Health Care Spending Accounts allows the employees to pay for eligible healthcare products and services not covered by your group benefits plan or provincial health plan. Each plan year, the employee and their family start with a certain number of HCSA dollars they can use to pay for, or top up, coverage for eligible healthcare, visioncare, or dentalcare expenses as determined by your benefits plan.
Why would an employer use a HCSA instead of just reimbursing an employee directly? The employee would pay tax on any benefits that an employer reimburses directly to the employee. The employer will then pay Employment Insurance, CPP, etc on that money they gave to the employee for medical expenses. The HCSA ensures anonymity for the employees with their medical or dental needs, which is important with the privacy laws.
Most employees have not been exposed to a (HCSA) and aren’t comfortable with this plan. However, most people have been exposed to a preloaded Visa Card. Great West Life has come up with this concept in conjunction with Visa to make the concept of a HCSA easier for the Employee to understand.
Contact Glendinning Insurance Services for more information on this product.