What is a Health Savings Account (HSA)? 

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a debit account that can be opened if you are part of a medical insurance plan through Reliant. You can contribute to this plan tax-free, and the annual amount contributed to HSA is reported to the IRS each year with your tax return. 

The HSA funds go into a new bank account set up for you by Highmark (our preferred vendor). This HSA account and funds belongs to you even beyond your employment with Reliant. The funds can be used for any legitimate medical expenses at any time in the future. You can pay for qualified health expenses now, as well as pay for future health expenses on a tax-advantaged basis. 

How do contributions get directed to my HSA?

There are two portion of the contributions that Reliant helps direct to your HSA each month: 

1. Employer Contribution ("ER" contribution) 
   • This contribution comes from Reliant funds. Reliant leadership sets the Employer contribution rate each year, and it is the same for all missionaries. Current contributions rates can be found here: 
   • This contribution is not deducted from your paycheck.  
2. Employee Contribution ("EE" contribution)
   • This contribution comes from your paycheck each month. 
   • You determine how much you will save.
   • This contribution is part of the Cafeteria Plan offerings from Reliant. It must be selected each year at Open Enrollment time.  You do have the ability to change, add, or drop a HSA election by filling out an updated cafeteria plan form. In 2020, Reliant is offering a ministry expense bonus that you can submit a new support goal for, and the funds can go to an employee contribution. 

3. Once you send confirmation to benefits@reliant.org that your HSA has been opened, Reliant will make the monthly contributions for you automatically.  

   Note
   title IMPORTANT: Potential 5 day delay in deposit availability
   Contributions that Reliant sends to our HSA provider may take up to 5 business days from the date of the pay day to be available for use.  Funds may appear on the Highmark site prior to that date (appearing as part of the account balance), however it's possible there may be an additional delay in employees being able to access to those funds for debit card purchases.

   
   

How do I set up and use my HSA? 

See instructions for setting up HSA account on this Solomon page: How to Set Up Your Coverage Account on HighmarkBCBS.com. After you have opened your HSA, PNC will provide a Highmark BCBS personal debit card(s) to use to pay for any qualified health expenses. If needed, you may also pay for qualified health expenses personally and reimburse them later from your HSA spending account. 

Webinar

For a thorough explanation of our Health Saver plans, download this PowerPoint presentation by Dave Meldrum-Green, Reliant's Director of Organizational Affairs & Treasurer. The PowerPoint was prepared back in 2016.

What are Health Saver (HS) plans?

Health Saver plans are High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) that allow participants to utilize Health Savings Accounts to save and pay for their current and future medical expenses. There are some aspects of HS plans that are different from traditional Preferred Provider Plans (PPOs). HS plans are designed to be paired with a personal Health Savings Account (HSA) bank account, allowing the employee to save funds each month for medical expenses. The Health Saver plans do not have co-pays for doctor visits or co-pays and discounts for prescriptions drugs. Participants pay 100 percent of medical and prescription drug claims until they've reached the plan's deductible. (For some HS plans, the plan pays at the co-insurance level until an annual Out-of-Pocket Maximum is reached.)  

HSA-compatible plans typically cost 20 percent less than a low-deductible PPO plan. Many of the ministries we connect with, such as Pioneers and Wycliffe are utilizing HSA Plans for their missionaries.

HSA plans will also have an Employer HSA Contribution in addition to the plan premium. 

• See Employer HSA Contributions

What is unique about Health Saver plans?

Please be aware, the deductible is "aggregate"; this means the whole deductible applies to the whole family. So couples and families have to meet the entire combined deductible before they receive any coverage of insurance. This applies to both medical visits and prescriptions. If an employee has coverage with one or more dependents, the employee AND his or her dependents must meet the plan's FULL family deductible before any claims will be paid for anyone in the family, and then the family maximum out-of-pocket applies. 

Also, keep in mind if an employee has individual-only coverage, he or she must meet the individual deductible before any claims will be paid by Guidestone, and then an individual maximum out-of-pocket may apply before claims will be paid at 100% (depending on the HS plan). 

What are the Annual Contribution Limits for a Health Saver Account?

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Frequently Asked Questions

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What Reliant staff are saying about the HS plans

Resources

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