By Marti Powles

In today’s healthcare climate, employers are searching for new ways to help employees stretch their healthcare dollars. Self-insured employers in particular have every reason to encourage workers to tap into their HSA and HRA plans whenever possible.

In recent years, HRAs and HSAs have grown increasingly common. According to a 2014 survey by United Benefit Advisors, the number of employers offering HSAs jumped to 15.1%, and employee participation in HSAs rose to 8.8%. Meanwhile, HRAs have held steady in usage as 8.6 % of employers offered the plans.

Now the question is: how can employers help employees stretch their healthcare dollars, including those spent through their HRAs and HSAs? Here are three non-insured benefits designed to do just that:

Vision Discounts: In most cases, traditional vision insurance is nothing more than a prepayment plus an administration fee—and thanks to limitations, employees often incur out-of-pocket expenses on eye care and eyewear purchases. This is where vision discount programs like Coast to Coast Vision can help. These discount programs offer employees major savings on eye exams, glasses, contacts and even LASIK surgery after they have exhausted their insurance benefits.

Dental Discounts: With dental insurance plans, employees not only have to shell out monthly premiums, but they often have to pay out-of-pocket expenses on dental care as well. However, dental discount programs like Aetna Dental Access can fill in the gaps by offering employees deep discounts at thousands of dental practice locations nationwide.

Prescription Discounts: Even if employees have health insurance, many of their medications are not covered under their plan—and some workers simply cannot afford to pay for these expensive prescriptions out-of-pocket. This is why a non-insurance prescription discount program can be incredibly valuable. The prescription discount program offered by New Benefits provides anywhere from 10% to 85% savings on prescription medications. In addition, this prescription program extends the life of an HSA or HRA by lowering the cost of prescription drugs for employees.

About The Author
This is a guest article written by Marti Powles, the Chief Operating Officer for New Benefits. To read more articles and industry insights from executives at New Benefits, click here.

(Image via Business 2 Community.)

The opinions expressed by the guest author are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Consumer Health Alliance.