HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank, N.A., announced today that it will expand its Lifestyle Spending Account (LSAs) offering, to help employers attract and retain employees by providing funds for an array of expenses.
The employer-funded accounts can be designed to promote employees’ physical and mental wellness by helping with costs not covered by health insurance or health savings accounts. Eligible expenses might include gym memberships, nutrition counseling, athletic clothing, fitness classes, home fitness equipment, mental health counseling and life planning.
The accounts also can be set up to pay for office supplies and equipment to facilitate hybrid work arrangements, help with financial planning and student loans, aid in adoptions, or support child and elder care. In short, they can be designed as narrowly or broadly as the employer chooses. And, employers are not limited in the number of accounts they can set up, each for specific purposes.
With an LSA, employers fund accounts with a predetermined amount of money annually, quarterly or monthly that employees can draw on. Any money that the employee does not spend over a specific timeframe that the employer defines reverts back to the employer. Plans can be shaped to allow employees to roll over unspent funds to the next time period.
Unlike health savings or flexible spending accounts, the IRS does not regulate LSAs which provides the employer greater flexibility on specific funding models.
“We are excited to offer this benefit to employers,” Chad Wilkins, President of HSA Bank. “LSAs are a great addition to an employers’ benefits lineup and allows them an additional opportunity to play a role in encouraging employees to maintain healthy, active lifestyles, to foster a healthy workplace and to improve relationships with their employees.”
