Yes. Providing that their non-bargaining spouse waives coverage.

No. If a PSCo bargaining employee wants coverage under an Xcel Energy group medical plan, they must elect it as a bargaining employee through the union.

Yes. A PSCo bargaining employee can be covered as a dependent under a spouse with the PSCo bargaining plan.

A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in an IRS approved high-deductible health plan (HDHP). Xcel Energy provides its employees the opportunity to open an HSA with Optum Bank and Xcel Energy pays the monthly administration fee. The account itself is between the employee and the IRS. Employees are responsible for following the IRS guidelines when it comes to making contributions to the account and using the account funds for eligible medical expenses.

The IRS regulates who is eligible for an HSA. To qualify for an HSA one must be enrolled in a HDHP and not be covered by any other coverage (including a spouse’s non-HDHP plan, Medicare, Tricare, etc). If you have any other secondary coverage, we advise you speak to a tax advisor to determine your eligibility.

Optum Bank, a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, is the vendor Xcel Energy has chosen to partner with to provide this account. Employees must enroll in the HSA through Optum Bank in order to receive the Company HSA contribution and make pre-tax payroll contributions. However, an employee could choose to set up his or her HSA at another financial institution that offers the HSA product, and forfeit the company contributions, payroll deduction feature and company paid monthly service fees.

There will be one contribution amount for individual coverage and another higher amount for family coverage. The higher amount will be contributed to HSAs of those electing employee plus spouse, employee plus children or family coverage in the HDHP.

Company HSA contributions will be processed in January and should be deposited in eligible employee accounts no later than mid-January.

The IRS specifies only two levels for the HSA maximum contributions. Any coverage level other than individual is considered family coverage per IRS guidance.

No. To be able to contribute to an HSA after age 65, you must not enroll in Medicare.

Participation in any type of Medicare (Part A, Part B, Part C -Medicare Advantage Plans, Part D, and Medicare Supplement Insurance – Medigap), makes you ineligible to contribute to an HSA.

If an employee is on Medicare but your spouse is not and under age 65, this provides an avenue for continued HSA contributions. Xcel Energy however, cannot make HSA contributions into the HSA of an employee’s spouse.

Example

Dick and Adele are covered under a family HDHP provided through Dick’s employer, Xcel Energy. Dick reaches age 65 in July and enrolls in Medicare. Xcel Energy made an HSA contribution and allows Dick to make pre-tax payroll deferrals until Dick becomes entitled to Medicare. Dick can stay on the family HDHP coverage offered through Xcel Energy, however, neither Dick nor Xcel Energy will be contributing to the HSA. Adele, age 58, can now open her own HSA and contribute the remaining family maximum (plus the catch-up as she is over age 55) because she remains covered by a family HDHP and is otherwise eligible. Adele can use her HSA for Dick’s medical expenses. Adele cannot put her HSA contribution into Dick’s HSA and will have to open her own HSA. Xcel Energy will stop HSA employer contributions and cannot allow Dick to defer pay pre-tax into Adele’s HSA.

Yes, you have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to how you fund your HSA. We do encourage our employees to put in a consistent amount each month or monitor their account closely to ensure they don’t go over the IRS limit. If you wish to make a one-time payroll deduction, you can do so by calling the HR Service Center. They will assist you with this transaction or any question you have on funding your HSA.

It is not encouraged to front-load your HSA in the beginning of the year by writing a personal check. If you have the money available to write a check at the beginning of the year to front-load your HSA, you might instead consider using those funds to pay your deductible and out of pocket expenses during 2016. Then you can take your premium savings throughout 2016 to fund your HSA, with pre-tax dollars, and have significant dollars saved for the 2017 medical plan year. If you find you need more money later in the year, you can reimburse yourself from your HSA account.

You will receive a debit card in the mail that is connected to your health savings account. It will function like any other debit card. You may also pay for expenses using other means (credit card, check, cash) and reimburse yourself at a later date. Just remember to keep all receipts and records of those purchases to back up your reimbursement requests (to be used if audited by the IRS). To learn more about that process visit Optum’s website or call their service center.  Remember, you do not have to utilize your HSA to pay for eligible expenses. Some employees use the account as a retirement savings tool, to be used during retirement years.

Expenses incurred prior to having a sufficient HSA balance will have to be paid with personal funds, such as a personal checking account or a credit card. You may also be able to set up a payment plan with your provider that aligns with the funds being deposited to your HSA.  As money is deposited into your HSA, you can reimburse yourself for the amount in your HSA. To reimburse yourself, you can request a reimbursement from your account through an online feature or withdraw money from an ATM using your card (although this will be subject to certain fees)

It typically takes several business days following the date of your paycheck for the funds to be deposited into your HSA. This is due to the administrative processing time required between Xcel Energy and Optum Bank.

Catch-up contributions are allowed for employees 55 and older. You can make an annual additional contribution of $1,000 to your HSA.

No, the employee does not need to cash out his or her HSA upon leaving the company or opting out of the HDHP plan. The HSA is 100 percent owned by the employee (including employer contributions) and can continue to be used for qualified medical expenses. Note: there is a monthly administrative fee that will not be covered by Xcel Energy if the employee leaves the company.

Any funds remaining in your HSA would be yours to keep. For example, you could use these funds for eligible medical expenses such as out of pocket expenses under another medical plan or long term health care premiums. Note: there is a monthly administrative fee that will not be covered by Xcel Energy if the employee leaves the company.

Upon death of the employee, any amounts remaining in the HSA transfer to the beneficiary named on the HSA beneficiary designation form. If the beneficiary is a surviving spouse, then the HSA is transferred into their name and the dollars are eligible to be used for qualified medical expenses. If the beneficiary is someone other than a surviving spouse, the HSA becomes part of his or her taxable income for the year.

Yes, but only with post-tax dollars. Remember, even if you fund your account with post-tax dollars you are still subject to the IRS annual contribution limits. We encourage our employees to take advantage of funding their HSA through pre-tax contributions.

How you use your HSA dollars is not related to your medical plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. Just because you pay your medical and pharmacy expenses with HSA dollars does not guarantee the expenses are counting towards your deductible or out-of-pocket maximums. In order for expenses to count towards your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum your claims must be processed through either UHC or Express Scripts. Your HSA is simply a financial tool to help you pay your portion of covered medical expenses.