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HR leaders, we have a question for you: Do you think your employees are financially savvy? Meaning, are they using your company’s financial benefits/resources to the best of their ability and making informed decisions?
In Evive’s 2020 HSA + FSA National Survey, we learned that 2 out of 3 employees believe they’re financially savvier than most people. But other data from the survey indicates this belief may not live up to reality (which isn’t surprising, considering it mathematically: 2 out of every 3 people, logically, cannot all be above the average!). In fact, many employees don’t know what qualifies as an HSA or FSA expense, and they’re often not even confident as to why they chose to enroll in one of these accounts (if they did, at all).
Succeeding financially is yet another important piece of the employee journey—along with maintaining a healthy household, learning to lead, and other stages we’ve discussed. Fortunately, it’s also one that can benefit from data-driven messaging. Below are some communication tips for HR leaders to better understand their population’s financial wellness, improve utilization of relevant financial benefits, and strengthen employee engagement overall.
Educate
Employees won’t be able to use their financial benefits successfully if they don’t know how to use them properly. That’s why educating workforces on such resources is critical for employers to do.
As noted earlier, many employees don’t have a clear understanding of what qualifies as a valid expense for an HSA or FSA—1 out of 3 FSA enrollees, to be exact, report not being confident about this. HR teams should consider automated, data-driven messaging for this segment of employees to clear up such confusion. Educational communications about what kinds of expenses qualify for reimbursement can boost successful engagement.
Our survey also found that most HSA enrollees expect their retirement healthcare costs to be much lower than the predicted average, which is reportedly $387,000 for a healthy couple (or very roughly $193,000 per person when gender life expectancy differences are taken into account). More than 38% of HSA enrollees in our survey anticipate the expenses (at an individual level) to be below $50,000. This demonstrates the need for personalized messaging that offers HSA and FSA enrollees financial planning guidance (another educational element). For instance, one of the common reasons survey respondents cite for not enrolling in an HSA at all is that their medical expenses don’t warrant it—when, in fact, HSAs can be used purely as a healthcare retirement savings account.
Boost awareness year-round
Open enrollment is a typical time of year for employees to feel engaged with their benefits. After all, there’s plenty of communication at this point and various meetings to educate on the available options and resources. But what happens after that?
When there’s a lack of timely, relevant, ongoing communications, people tend to forget about their benefits. And when financial benefits are affected by this lackadaisical approach, the financial success of the employee journey suffers. This is reiterated by our survey finding that 2 out of 3 HSA-enrolled employees check their HSA balance less than monthly. Compare that to more than a third of Americans who look at their checking accounts daily, and the reportedly low engagement with HSAs feels like a significant cause for concern.
A data-driven messaging platform, however, segments those HSA enrollees and keeps check-in nudges going throughout the year (especially around the right moments, like a prescription pick-up or a medical procedure) to ensure awareness is more likely to stick around past open enrollment. Or, better yet, such nudges could direct people to their employee portal where their HSA balance could be directly accessed through platform-vendor integration, preventing the need for extra log-ins to the HSA vendor’s portal. Best of all, engagement on the part of the employee means those funds used by the employer to establish an HSA don’t fall to the wayside.
Show you care
In addition to education and awareness, powerful communications around succeeding financially can support employee loyalty. More than 4 out of 10 employee survey respondents reported being neutral at best on the idea that their employer was committed to their financial success. The kicker? These employees were all enrolled in an employer-sponsored HSA or FSA, too!
This shows personalized, automated messaging that educates and boosts awareness can achieve more than just those surface-level outcomes—it can foster a more meaningful connection between the employer and its employees. By reaching people with these relevant resources and bits of information in the moments they need it, HR leaders are not only supporting employees in this critical stage of the journey, they’re proving their commitment to that success.
Want to dig in and review more of the survey results to boost HSA/FSA engagement? Click below for a full infographic of the highlights: