Health Spending Account’s (HSA) are health and/or dental expense plans that can be written off by the corporation. They are most often used to top up an existing schedule of benefits like ‘cost plus.’ An HSA provides a flex care top-up that CRA allows for companies to write off health and dental expenses over the coverage schedule of benefits. You can use a standalone HSA for extraordinary expenses over what the plan covers.
For example, if someone has coverage through their regular plan for 50% coverage on major dental but has to get a $1000 crown, the plan would pick $500 (50%) of the crown and the remaining $500 could be expensed through the HSA or Cost-Plus top-up.
You can also use an HSA to improve employee moral and keep them proactive about their lives. The optional Lifestyle and Wellness add-on is a taxable benefit, but can be used to help promote and facilitate active lifestyles by covering expenses like gym memberships and sports.
HSA is one example of using your plan effectively with the best payoff for your employees. Another great tip on how to use your plan effectively includes using your My-Benefits administration tool, and ensuring your employees do too. My-Benefits and Telus Health are tools that help with proactive health management, as well as a few reactive solutions. Here you can determine what you are covered for and the limits you have to take advantage of the plan coverage. You can also find doctors and practitioners that you may require as well as a number of other useful links.
Don’t have HSA set up to top-up your existing plan? Or don’t know how to navigate your My-Benefits portal? Give us a call and we will be happy to set you up for maintaining a healthy, happy lifestyle.