Episode Description

Don’t worry, you didn't join the wrong podcast.  Yes, HSA plans are typically associated with the health portion of an employee benefits package.  However, there has been much discussion in the industry about what you will hear my guest Ana Sabatino, Vice President and Consumer Driven Health Plan Specialist at CIGNA, refer to as the cross functional purpose of HSA plans in helping improve both employee decisions and outcomes in health and wealth.  With the growth of HSA plans at over 25% a year for the last four years, more and more employers are utilizing these plans as they introduce consumerism in their healthcare strategy, and the side benefit, that some are realizing, is this means employees are also gaining access to a powerful vehicle with several distinct tax advantages to help pay medical costs in retirement.  In this foundational discussion Ana does a great job of explaining how employees at various stages in life can take advantage of HSAs, how they contribute to the evolving conversation of improving both health and wealth and ideas around creating benefits bundles to guide employee decision making.  Additionally, Ana offers valuable insights for employers about the importance of setting up internal cross functional teams between health and retirement benefits, how involving company leadership is paramount to success and why you need to have a three year plan for your benefits strategy.  This episode stretched me, i hope it does the same for you.  Enjoy!

Guest Bio

Ana joined Cigna's leadership team in 2006 as a leading subject matter expert in consumer driven health plans (CDHP).  Prior to joining Cigna she was part of the leadership team at Definity Health, the original pioneers of the CDHP model.   Her clients include some of the largest fortune 500 organizations that were early adopters of this model in the early 2000’s.  

  

She has 25 years of experience working with health and welfare plans. In the past 13 years, Ana has exclusively focused on working with both public and private sector employers on successful CDHP strategies. 

 

As a subject matter expert for Cigna she is very hands on in helping clients develop successful multi-year strategies using Cigna Choice Fund as an effective enabler of behavior change and health improvement. 

 

Her expertise, results and passionate leadership around designing CDHP strategies “done right” has made her a frequent speaker for Cigna as well as a major contributor in helping Cigna achieve industry leading growth in consumer driven health plans. 

 

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Helps employers navigate the evolving retirement benefits landscape through weekly engaging interviews with industry leaders, subject matter experts and progressive employers with unique viewpoints. The diverse in-depth perspectives and relevant topics help employers make more informed decisions about their retirement benefit programs which will positively impact their employees and business.  For more information please visit www.401kfridays.com/podcasts.