Most HDHP communication teaches the plan. The failure is not that people cannot recite a deductible. It is that they elect the cheaper paycheck, leave the HSA at zero, and meet the first real bill with a card. Funded action is the goal. Everything else is a lecture.
Eighty-six percent of employees say they are confused by their benefits. Forty-one percent do not fully understand last year’s pick. An HDHP on top of that is how you get “the cheap plan” and a $0 account. Speak to paycheck, the first bill, and “this is a savings account you keep.” Plan mechanics wait until the first dollar is set aside. Pair this with financial wellness communication and the enrollment playbook.
Lead with the paycheck, then the bill
Show the per-paycheck difference in dollars. “This plan costs $X less per paycheck than the other medical option” is the sentence people can use at the kitchen table. “Lower premium, higher deductible” is a slogan. Put the employer HSA contribution next to that number, in the same unit — per paycheck or per year, not both in the same line. If the company puts money in, say the dollar amount before you say “HSA.” If the company puts nothing in, do not hide that. Silence reads as a trick.
Name the first bill they will actually face. A $2,000 deductible is abstract until you attach it to a visit they recognize: urgent care, a specialist, a child’s broken wrist, a course of physical therapy. Use your plan’s real cost-share, not a national average. Then say what the HSA is for in that moment: money you set aside from the paycheck savings so the bill does not go on a card. That is the whole product for year one. The tax advantage is a bonus they will care about after the account exists.
Households decide this together. Put those three numbers on a no-login page and write one line meant to be forwarded home — the same problem as spouse and dependent communication.
Say what the account is — and what it is not
This is a savings account you keep. People assume FSA rules. If the first screen does not say the balance rolls and travels when they leave, they will not fund it. Repeat it in January and at a raise. Do not call it “free money” unless the company is seeding it and opening the account is the only ask. Overclaiming follows you into a $12 balance and a real bill.
It is not an investment product in week one. Mixing “fund this year’s deductible” with “invest for 65” loses both audiences. Enrollment and January: paycheck, deductible, first recurring contribution. Mid-year, only to people with a balance above a threshold you set: the investment story. One problem, one next step — the same split as financial wellness.
The first action has to be funded
Opening the account is not the win. A $0 HSA next to an HDHP is an unfunded deductible. Count a first funded action — employer seed, a recurring amount greater than zero, or a one-time transfer. Ignore vendor registrations.
Ask for a small, named amount on a phone, off the network: “Start with $25 per paycheck — you can raise it after the first claim.” Suppress people who already have a recurring contribution. A maxed-out IRS chart is for people who already funded, not the night shift.
When to talk — not only in October
Open enrollment is the election. January is the reset. Tax season and a raise are when cash-flow loosens. After a first claim, send one note: how to pay from the HSA, how to raise the deduction. That is the same lever as reducing costs through communication. The open enrollment hub covers the fall; the calendar keeps the account from dying in March.
Frontline people will not sit a seminar. SMS for the “set $25” link, a no-login page for the three numbers, a QR at the time clock. Managers point; they do not explain contribution limits from memory.
What to report so this does not stay a story
Share of HDHP enrollees with a contribution greater than zero, split hourly vs. salaried. Funded amount vs. the deductible, not the IRS max. Tickets that start with “I thought the money disappeared.” If hourly funding is a fraction of salaried, fix reach and ask size before you buy another video. Score the program or talk to us if you want the nudges built in.
Key takeaways
- Funded action is the metric. A $0 HSA next to an HDHP is an unfunded deductible.
- Lead with paycheck dollars, a real first-bill example, and the employer seed — not plan architecture.
- Say in the first screen that the account rolls and they keep it if they leave. People assume FSA rules.
- Ask for a small named amount. Save the investment story for people who already have a balance.
- Talk in January, at tax time, and after the first claim — not only at open enrollment.
- Report funding by segment. A salaried-only success is a reach failure.
Frequently asked questions
How do you explain an HSA without teaching the whole tax code?
Three sentences: this plan costs $X less per paycheck; that savings goes into an account you own and keep; you use it for the deductible so the first bill does not go on a card. Limits and investing wait until there is a balance. If they ask about taxes, send them to the vendor or HR — do not improvise a lecture in a huddle.
What if we cannot afford an employer HSA contribution?
Say so. Then show the paycheck savings versus the other plan and ask for a small recurring amount tied to a visit they recognize. Pretending there is a company seed when there is not will follow you into the first claim. The communication still works if the ask is honest and the action is one tap on a phone.
Should we promote HSA investing during open enrollment?
Not as the lead. Enrollment is crowded and 41% of people already do not understand last year’s pick. Get a contribution greater than zero first. Run the investment message later, only to people with a balance above a threshold you set. One email that tries to do both will get neither action.
How do we know HSA communication is working?
Count funded accounts among HDHP enrollees, not registrations. Split by hourly vs. salaried. Watch “I thought I lost the money” tickets. If funding does not move after you change the sentences and the path, the constraint is cash flow or reach — not another webinar. Attach that to the same leadership packet you use for other promoted-program use.
If HSA funding is the gap, communication is usually the cause. Take the employer scorecard.
Pairs strategic thinking with a drive to get it right every time. With 16+ years of experience — including a communication practice in Sydney, Australia — she specializes in simplifying complex benefit programs.
