Employee Benefits

The Treasury Department and the IRS issued guidance on health savings accounts (HSAs) ( www.treas.gov/press/releases/js1278.htm ) to increase health-insurance-plan designers’ and consumers’ understanding of the IRS rules governing such plans. HSAs are tax-exempt trust or custodial accounts established exclusively to pay the qualified medical expenses of an eligible individual participating in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) whose coverage provisions satisfy related IRS requirements. The guidance clarifies the types of preventive care an HDHP covers and the interaction between it and other prescription drug benefit plans.