Mildly Infuriating

And thank GOD! if a Business wants to Steal ALL my Money that just makes them GOOD BUSINESSMEN! If I wanted Rights I would Lift up my Bootstraps!

Thanks, I hate it

"You are not the customer, you are the product" is true so often, but in many cases (like this one) it doesn't really apply.

First off, "not the customer but the product" is an inherently antagonistic relationship. Your goals are opposed to Facebook's, for instance, because you want to spend less time on the platform and you want to interact with friends and not brands, but Facebook wants the opposite of both. But with HSA administration, your goals and your employer's goals are aligned: you both want someone who will quickly and painlessly manage your account without being a pain.

Second, "not the customer but the product" implies an undisclosed, extractive payment occurring behind the scenes. TikTok is harvesting a great deal of data from you and selling it to other companies. You are the product in that your data has value. But with HSA administration, the product is just the management of your HSA money; there's no under-the-table dealing going on here (or there shouldn't be); they're getting paid by your company for their services.

Third, "not the customer but the product" relationships are entirely one-way; you have no way to impact the providing company beyond just not using their services. They do not, will not, and at some level can never care about your experience beyond making it as minimally useful to you to keep you on the platform. But that HSA provider desperately needs your company's business, so if enough of your coworkers raise a stink and get your company to complain, they will make a change.

In actuality, "not the customer but the product" ignores the unfortunate reality of most HR/payroll service companies in this case: they're just the lowest bidder, contracted at the bottom dollar to provide the cheapest services possible, because your employers don't have to use their services and don't care about your experience.

It does cost them money, more than you have in the account.

At the very least, the USPS is getting money out of them. More than the 2¢, even.

I've had one open for years that is empty. I think they're hoping I eventually put money in it so they can drain it for the years it sat unused.

This is exactly what I do. Spend all the money out of the account and delete my login. Done this at least a couple times and I’ve never had an issue. What are they gunna do? File a bullshit claim on my credit?

Does it benefit the company in some way to have empty accounts on their books?

I had this happen a couple jobs ago - I successfully spent it down to $1, but the they wouldn’t transfer that little. I suppose I may still legally have this amount somewhere

It deceives people whose idea of how things work in large companies hasn't changed since the days when it was the manager of your bank branch who decided if you you should get a loan or not.

Nowadays, for certain in middle and large size companies, all the administrative main business pathways are heavilly if not totally automated and it's customer support that ends up eating the most manpower (which is why there has been so much of a push for automated phone and chat support systems, of late using AI).

Those $25 bucks for "account closure" pays at worst for a few minutes of somebody's seeking the account from user information on a computer, cross checking that the user information matches and then clicking a button that says "Close accout" and then "Ok" on the confirmation box and the remaining 99% or so left after paying for that cost are pure profit.

No lollygagging!

Not to mention illegal.

It depends though. If you are relatively healthy with no chronic issues (yet) and have enough saved for an emergency, it can save you a good amount of tax-free money that you can use for when you get older and sicker. That and the monthly premium is much lower than a PPO. Obviously universal healthcare is still the best option.

I save money with the HSA/high deductible. I always plan around using 100% of deductible. Premium plus HSA contribution is less than the PPO option.

I'll never pick an 80/20 plan. They generally charge more and cover less.

And I'm an old hag and have recently got cataract surgery in both eyes, hearing aids, etc.

HSAs are also a way to get healthy people away from wanting universal health care by catering to their self interest, just like how IRAs were intended to let people with money invest in retirement which eroded support for social security.

It really depends. My company, you always do the high deductible. The OOP Max is only $5k compared to $13k for the other. The difference in premiums plus my employers contribution to the HSA are more than the difference between the two deductibles. The plans cover the same stuff. I don't really get why they're set up how they are.