Sara Taylor (00:20):
I am Sara Taylor. I am the leader of Via Benefits accounts administration business and that includes servicing not only HRAS for retirees, but also accounts for active employees such as health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts and more. I joined Via Benefits about nine months ago, um, in this role and I am incredibly thrilled to be here. But I joined with over 31 years of experience working with different competitor organizations in the industry. And in that capacity, my role was fairly focused on a healthcare product strategy standpoint, covering anything from benefits administration to spending account administration, healthcare, navigation, you name it. Anything that uh, looked, smelled or, or sounded like healthcare, um, usually found its way into my lap. Great.
Nina Krammer (01:14):
Well thank you so much. Well, let's jump right into it then. So most of our listeners are probably familiar with Via Benefits from the individual marketplace perspective. I think that you're throwing something completely new into the mix, something that maybe the HR professionals listening have might not have heard about in terms of a solution that Via Benefits offers. So can you spend a little bit more time explaining what it is exactly, um, that we do in as it relates to the accounts business?
Sara Taylor (01:45):
Sure. So the accounts business quite simply helps people manage money to pay for their benefits. And one of those benefits today that we administer are HRAS for retirees, uh, in the individual marketplace to pay for premiums out-of-pocket expenses and so forth. But we also help many employers administer account-based programs, again, for active employees, but sometimes also for retirees that aren't using the individual marketplace. And those are most often health savings accounts, healthcare, flexible spending accounts, HRAs. We also support commuter benefits, adoption and tuition. And at the end of the day, this is people putting money into an account like an HSA and then using the money to pay for out-of-pocket expenses and often, again, medical expenses, but it could be dependent daycare expenses.
Nina Krammer (02:42):
So you mentioned a a lot of different types of accounts. Let's break it up. So a couple of them that you mentioned, HSAs Health, uh, FSAs, for example, those are tax advantaged accounts. Yes,
Sara Taylor (02:55):
Correct. Yes.
Nina Krammer (02:56):
Okay. So let's talk a little bit about the tax advantaged accounts and then how those differ for-from some of the other accounts that we administer.
Sara Taylor (03:04):
Okay, so with the tax advantaged accounts, employees are enrolling in these benefits usually at annual enrollment when they're picking their medical plan, their life insurance plan and other benefits. And they're determining how much money they're going to contribute to those accounts, whatever that is. Let's say someone elects to contribute $5,000 to a health savings account, we then take over at the beginning of the year and again, allow that person to use the money in their health savings account sduring the year. That's often through the use of a debit card. So if they have immediate access to their funds to pay for things like copays, prescription drugs or other medical expenses.
Nina Krammer (03:44):
You know, you mentioned HSAs specifically and how uh, employees can use, uh, their debit card in order to use it for healthcare expenses throughout the year. Can you talk a little bit more about how HSAs can be invested and how they could be used later on in life?
Sara Taylor (04:03):
Sure. This is always a balance for employees, how much to spend their account and how much to save it. But if you think about it, an HSA, in many ways it's the equivalent of a 401k in the retirement space. People can accumulate the assets in their HSA to use not only today, but for future medical expenses and that could be mu medical expenses in retirement. And once, what typically happens is once the person reaches a dollar threshold, um, not uncommon to say a thousand dollars, they're then eligible to invest the money in their HSA and that gives them the potential to increase the value of that account over time. And one of the real benefits of HSAs is the triple tax advantage. People put money into the account on a pre-tax basis. The expenses in the account or that the account is used for are also pre-tax, but the investment revenue that they earn on that account is also tax free.
Sara Taylor (05:06):
So it is really just awesome when you think about tax advantages for this account. What we are doing on the investment front is we're we're trying to support employees no matter where they are. Some people need to use their HSA as they go, they are really spenders. They need the money to pay for the medical care they need, others are able to save more. We wanna support the full spectrum of their employees, but always keep an eye on turning 65 or retirement because again, this is a great account to help people set themselves up for really success in retirement and how they're gonna pay for medical care.
Nina Krammer (05:45):
That's an excellent point, and I don't know of any other area where there's a triple tax advantage. So I think it's a great, uh, benefit to have. One thing that I've heard a lot about, and it seems to be getting a lot of buzz about in the media is a non-tax advantaged account called an LSA or lifestyle spending account. Can you talk to us a little bit about that and why is it generating so much buzz?
Sara Taylor (06:11):
Sure. Lifestyle spending accounts are a very flexible account. I, I think that there's tremendous potential and we hear a lot of employers looking at adopting these. What the lifestyle spending account is, is it allows the employer to set aside funds that the employee can use for whatever the employer defines. So in many cases that is something tied to wellbeing, healthcare, wellbeing, um, financial wellbeing, but it can be a broad spectrum. We see some employers use these type of accounts even for reimbursement of home office furniture or things like that. So kind of supporting a work styles environment. These are not taxed advantaged, they are taxable to the employee, but again, they have tremendous flexibility for the employer to choose who can use them, how much is going into the account on behalf of the employee and what they're used for. And the employers who are really successful with these types of accounts are re-looking at their benefits design overall.
Sara Taylor (07:14):
They're looking at programs that they might already have in place today. You know, when before covid, it might have been Weight Watchers at work or an onsite fitness center or niche programs that employers have a laundry list of that are kind of just, you know, they're checking the box to say we have flexibility, we have diverse benefits offering, but the utilization of those benefits tends to be very low, like one to 3% some kind. You might get 10% by looking at what they offer consolidating and trying to free up dollars to make sure that they're using. The more effectively employers are kind of saying, look, instead of offering the that menu of niche benefits, we are going to offer a single lifestyle spending account that could be used by maybe 80% or 90% of the population for employees to really personalize the benefits for their use. And you're not limited to that preset menu.
Nina Krammer (08:08):
And is it a relatively new type of account? Why, why only now are we hearing so much about it?
Sara Taylor (08:14):
Well, lifestyle accounts have been around for a few years. Adoption is fairly low. About seven to 8% of employers have those today. But interest is really strong and I think, you know, there was a, a trend for several years of really using specialty solutions or point solutions and you know, employers adopted those. But again, as you look at the utilization in many of those, it's fairly low. And so I think the interest is here because employers see an opportunity to try something new and different that might work better. Again, if you can get 80% usage of this account by your employee base, um, that that's a lot better. And then if you also think about the changes to the work environment post Covid, you know, where you have more people at home and a lot of DNI activity where employers are really focusing on diversity and inclusion, I think the lifestyle accounts allow them to really promote, again, a benefit that has broader reach and broader appeal to really diverse employees. Where the point solutions in many cases are very focused on specific audiences and you really have to accumulate several of those to have a well-rounded benefits package.
Nina Krammer (09:26):
That makes sense. And what would you advise to a benefits professional who is evaluating these different types of accounts for their active employee base? What types of considerations that they might have when selecting a menu for for their colleagues?
Sara Taylor (09:43):
Most of the employers that we work with offer kind of what I call the core accounts, your healthcare flexible spending account, HSAs. There are a few employers who don't have an HSA, but that's tied to their medical plan strategy, a high deductible health plan. Employers really just need to understand first and foremost with all of those, what is their benefits strategy? What are they trying to accomplish? What employees are they trying to hit and what are they again trying to achieve with this? Is it retention? Is it engagement? Is it attracting new employees? You know, there's usually a purpose for this. Why do employers offer the benefits overall? And as I kind of shift a little bit and think about lifestyle accounts in particular, this is really a good way for employers to think about how does their benefits package support what they're trying to do more broadly from an HR standpoint. So that's really my advice to employers is understand what you're offering and why are you offering it. Always go back to that when you're making a decision.
Nina Krammer (10:42):
Is that something that Via Benefits is able to consult on in helping with that strategy?
Sara Taylor (10:49):
So when I think about accounts generally not, you know, by the time we're working with an employer, the employer has figured out what they want to do. In many instances, there are nuances to each account, do you have a rollover? Do you allow a debit card? Do you do things like that? We, we will help employers work through some of the mechanics, um, and the best practices that will allow your employees to access those benefits and use them effectively. I think the one area where we can help employers think about their strategy for the accounts really is around post-employment or retirement. And that could be for pre 65 individuals or those who are Medicare eligible and what methods could they use. Historically, when you think about retirees and if there is any type of employer subsidy, HRA come to mind and that is very applicable and usable in the Medicare world.
Sara Taylor (11:48):
But as you think about people who aren't yet Medicare eligible but maybe have retired, there are different alternatives that could be considered. And that's where we could help employers think through that. It could be an HRA strategy, it could actually be an HSA and some of the employers we're talking to now are very interested in thinking about, you know, how they can better promote the HSA when people are an active employee. So Nina, going back to your kind of triple tax advantage, you know, concept, but really, and, and investing in getting people to think about the HSA, like they do a 401k and using that to pay for expenses in retirement and connecting the dots. So it's less about, in that case, the account that they're bringing to the table, but how you're positioning that account in your overall benefit strategy that we could be a part of and work with an employer on different options.
Nina Krammer (12:39):
There are a variety of providers of this type of service. So what would set Via Benefits apart and what, what would you say should be something that, uh, benefits professionals should be considering when selecting an administrator?
Sara Taylor (12:56):
First and foremost, I think quality comes to mind. We have very referenceable clients, but you know, there's a lot of platforms that can do a lot of things. But at the end of the day, what service are you getting as an employer and what service are your employees getting? That to me is quality. You wanna feel really good about that. Someone is always gonna have a new bell or whistle somewhere else. I don't know that many of those things are material, but fundamentally, who's gonna be your, your quality trusted provider from today until the end of servicing. And then I think the other thing where, um, the benefits is really different in the marketplace is our ability to help people transition effectively from an active employee into healthcare and retirement and connecting those dots and the accounts and the money that is available to those either because they've contributed to the HSA on their own or they're receiving some types of subsidy as an HRA from the employer. That is really unique and that is really our sole focus. I think that there are other organizations out there that are much more transactional in nature. Um, some are more financial in nature, um, but our niche is really around healthcare and how we're gonna help that person throughout their lifetime on healthcare.
Nina Krammer (14:16):
Yeah, I appreciate that, that sentiment because it really ties back to how Via Benefits is a guide from Hire really through Retire. And that's really the the reason why we, we even do these podcast interviews with that Eye on 65. So I appreciate that. Sara, thanks so much for being here today. I certainly learned a lot about spending account side of the Via Benefits business. That is all for today and hope to see you next time on Eye on 65.
Sara Taylor (14:45):
Thank you. This is my pleasure to be here.
Nina Krammer (14:48):
You've been listening to Eye on 65, a podcast by WTW. For more information on Via Benefits and the solutions we provide, visit optimize retiree benefits.com. That's optimize retiree benefits.com.
