Reid Hutchins already had a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a large corporate bank when he learned that Olympia Federal Savings (OlyFed) had begun providing the service. As the owner of Hutchins Advertising, he was familiar with the benefits HSAs provide to small business owners. “As soon as OlyFed started offering them, I signed up immediately,” says Hutchins. “HSAs are a great way to save money when you have a high deductible insurance plan.”

“You put money in pre-tax, and it sits there and earns interest,” explains Justin Jacobs, OlyFed’s Health Savings Professional. “If you ever need it for a medical expense, it’s also tax-free once it comes out.”

The Plan Benefits Business Owners & Employees

For employers, HSAs are affordable and help to save on payroll taxes. “High deductible health insurance plans can provide catastrophic coverage for employees at a relatively affordable cost,” says OlyFed’s VP Marketing & Public Relations Manager, Ryan Betz. “Thanks to the affordability of these plans, often employers help set up HSAs for their employees and they make a monthly contribution to the accounts as part of their benefits package to help cover expenses like office visits, physical exams, dental checkups and prescription medications that aren’t often covered by their high deductible insurance plan.”

Employees can also contribute monthly to their Health Savings Account. “The combined power of the HSA and high deductible health insurance is that you have the money set aside from both the employer and employee to deal with routine checkups, but then if something serious happens, you’re not going to go bankrupt trying to deal with hospital bills,” says Betz.

Local, Personal & Knowledgeable Service

The second reason was that Hutchins knew that by switching to OlyFed, he would get the advantage of an HSA account with the bonus of a local company with real people to speak with if he had any questions.

“I can call someone and get an answer in just a few minutes,” he says. “When I was with this large national company, I’d be on hold for half an hour, and they might call you back in three days. There is no comparison in the level of customer service.”

Hutchins isn’t the only one who appreciates the additional benefits. Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, according to Jacobs. “We have it set up for businesses to do automatic contributions to their employees’ health savings accounts making it easy to meet the needs and goals of both parties,” he explains. “If employees have questions, it’s simple for the business to tell their staff to come to us because we can explain things to them and provide any needed customer support. When you call OlyFed, you don’t get a robot, you get a real, professional, knowledgeable and caring banker that’s ready to help you manage not only your HSA, but also your overall finances.”

Hutchins hopes that more small business owners become aware of the HSA option. “They’re missing out on a great way to save money,” he says. “It can help pay medical expenses, now and into the future.”