Health
Savings Account contributions are required
by Federal law to be held by a qualified trustee or
custodian. The funds can be deposited with any
authorized HSA administrator, regardless of which
insurance company underwrites the policy. Each
administrator offers different features, and has a
different fee schedule, summarized below.
Our
recommendation is to set up your HSA with one of the
many third party financial institutions offering to
administer your Health Savings Account. There
are two main reasons for this:
-
Insurance rates constantly change, and there is
a good chance that at some point you will find
it financially beneficial to switch to a different
plan with a different insurance company.
Some insurance company-sponsored administrators
do not pay interest to account holders who do
not also carry the accompanying health insurance,
or they may charge additional fees. You
don’t want to have to change your administrator
if you decide to change your health insurance.
- Independent
HSA administrators often provide lower fees and
more investment options than those offered by the
insurance company.
There
are many HSA administrators to choose from, all with
different fee structures and services. Listed
below are several with whom we have a relationship.
After choosing the one that best meets your needs,
you can apply online with some companies, or download
an application to mail in with your initial deposit.
Some
administrators only offer savings account options,
while others offer CDs, mutual funds, or complete
brokerage services. Low fees are an important
consideration until you have built up some money in
your account. Three of the plans that have no
fees include American Chartered
Bank, Baytree
Bank, and Fayetteville
Bank.
For
an administrator with more investment options, the
most popular among our clients include HSA
Bank and HSA
Resources. In addition to savings accounts,
these two administrators offer a full brokerage services
with discount broker partners, allowing you to purchase
stocks, bonds, and mutual funds through Vanguard,
Fidelity, Janus, and other mutual fund
companies.
You
may also want to consider HSA
Resources if you are looking to set up HSAs
for an employer group. They have good service,
low rates, and two attorneys on staff to help handle
difficult issues that sometimes get complicated with
group plans (section 125 issues, "comparability"
testing of HSA contributions, Sub S and partnership
contributions, etc.).
HSA
for America is an independent
health insurance broker specializing in HSA-qualified
plans for individuals and families. We are happy
to provide our health insurance customers assistance
in choosing the best administrator to meet their needs.
