Large business

Spending accountsFor large businesses

With tax advantages for both you and your employees, BlueSaver® spending accounts make a smart addition to your health plans. They’re easy to manage with online tools and offer convenient funding methods and on-demand reporting.

Health savings accounts (HSAs)

HSAs offer your employees a tax-advantaged way to save and pay for qualified out-of-pocket health care expenses. To enroll in an HSA, the employee must be covered by a qualified high-deductible health plan (QHDHP). HSAs can be funded by an employer, an employee, or both.

Employees contribute to HSAs through pre-tax payroll deduction, check, or online transfer. Contributions are tax-deductible, and distributions are tax-free when used to pay for qualified medical expenses. Interest and earnings are also tax-free.1

Employers may make pre-tax contributions to their employee’s HSAs. These contributions are not subject to withholding from wages for income tax or subject to FICA, FUTA, or the Railroad Retirement Act.

The HSA is employee-owned — so if he or she changes jobs, the account goes with that employee. In addition to using the HSA to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare costs this year, employees may also open an investment account with a portion of their funds allowing the HSA to become an investment vehicle to help cover health care costs in their retirement years.2

The BlueSaver® HSA Solution

Our BlueSaver HSA Solution is closely integrated with our medical products and services to ensure a seamless experience for your employees — to help them take full advantage of their health plan benefits.

The BlueSaver HSA Solution offers employees all the advantages of an HSA, along with claim and payment integration to make account management easy. This integration creates a one-of-a-kind experience for our members, while also assisting them in becoming more informed health care consumers.

Reduce prescription costs with the BlueSaver HSA Solution pharmacy benefit

With the BlueSaver HSA Solution, customers can add a benefit that helps them save money and makes it easier for members with chronic conditions to afford preventive medications.

When a member with an HSA-qualified HDHP fills a prescription for any of the eligible preventive medications, the deductible is waived. The member simply pays the plan’s copay or coinsurance. This benefit is only available for plans with group sizes of 100+ members. View the complete HSA HDHP Drug List.

Refer to IRS Publication 969 for more information about HSAs. Refer to IRS Publication 502: Medical and Dental Expenses for a complete list of qualified expenses.

HSA investment solution

Members who are enrolled in an Independence HDHP with an HSA now have a new option to invest their HSA funds. The WealthCare Saver investment experience allows members to personalize their investment journey based on their unique needs and investment experience level. Best of all, the new solution is fully integrated, allowing account holders to manage all aspects of their HSA through ibx.com or the IBX Mobile App.2

High-yield interest option available to account holders with HSAs

Members enrolled in an IBX QHDHP with an HSA can choose between two interest options for their cash deposits: traditional or high-yield.3

  • Traditional option. Cash deposits are insured by the FDIC for up to $250k and receive a lower interest rate.
  • High-yield interest option. Account holders earn a higher interest rate on their cash balance. The high-yield cash account funds are not FDIC-insured and are held in a deposit account backed by Pacific Life, a highly rated California insurance company.

Contact us

For more information about the BlueSaver HSA Solution, contact your Independence account executive, broker, or consultant — or call 215-241-2263.

Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)

HRAs are tax-advantaged accounts funded with employer dollars to pay employee expenses not covered by their health plan. Employers outline what expenses will be covered by the HRA within the limitations outlined by the Internal Revenue Service Publication 969, and employers can deduct the amount of their contributions when employees use the funds. Although an HRA can have an option to carry forward unused funds, an employee cannot take their HRA funds to a new employer.

The BlueSaver HRA

The BlueSaver HRA offers employers flexibility and a wide range of options to align the HRA with your organization’s overall health care and financial strategies.

Features of the BlueSaver HRA include:

  • Flexible coverage options — including deductible, copay and/or coinsurance, limited types of expenses4
  • The ability to reimburse a percentage of each claim or to include an employee up-front out-of-pocket requirement before the HRA covers expenses
  • Easy enrollment based upon medical plan election
  • Easy account maintenance and on-demand reporting
  • Automated claims rollover
  • Direct payment to provider available
  • Optional no-cost debit card for the subscriber and dependents over 18

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs)

FSAs are personal accounts funded by employees. An FSA lets your employees set aside pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible expenses like health care and/or dependent care, depending on plan type. Employers benefit by offering FSAs because participation reduces employees’ taxable income — which can reduce FICA taxes for employers.

Please note: BlueSaver FSAs are available to groups of 100+ employees.

The BlueSaver FSA

The BlueSaver health care FSA is closely integrated with our medical products and services to improve the experience for members and help them take full advantage of their benefits. The dependent care account offers similar features  —  including online claims submission to speed up reimbursement.

Features of our BlueSaver health care FSA include:

  • Easy account maintenance and on-demand reporting
  • Automated claims rollover
  • Optional direct payment to medical provider
  • No-cost debit card for the subscriber and dependents over 18

Refer to IRS Publication 502 for a complete list of qualified medical and dental expenses. Refer to IRS Publication 503 for more information about dependents and dependent care FSAs.

1 Tax savings are at the federal level. State tax policies vary.

2 An optional investment account may be opened when the account balance exceeds $500; additional fees apply.

3 This choice only impacts the HSA cash balance and does not impact the investment account — if the account holder is enrolled in one. Account holders may change their interest option preference at any time.

4 Because an HRA offers employer-owned funds, there is greater flexibility in what expenses are covered — provided they are considered qualified medical and dental expenses. Refer to IRS Publication 502 for a complete list of qualified medical and dental expenses.