Cisco U.S. Benefits | Health Plus Savings Plan | Health Savings Account (HSA)

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Employee assistance program: Open to all Cisco employees and members of their immediate household. Benefits include counseling for a wide range of concerns, referrals for service providers, and much more.
Call 800 718-8435 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Questions? Contact HR Connection. The phone number is: 866 282-3866 or 408 526-5999 and select option 4.
Representatives are available Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time. A chat feature is also available on the U.S. Benefits portal.

Health Plus Savings Plan (HPSP)

Health Savings Account (HSA)

When you enroll in the HPSP, Cisco opens a Health Savings Account (HSA) on your behalf, and again in 2012 will help you pay for care through an HSA contribution: $500 for you, or $750 for family coverage.

You own the account, which means that if you leave Cisco, or change enrollment from the HPSP, you can keep your HSA funds, although you can't contribute additional funds to the account.

You can use your HSA to pay for qualified medical, dental, and vision out-of-pocket costs now or save your money for healthcare costs in the future—even in retirement. Be sure to consider your HSA investment strategy holistically with your 401(k) plan investments.

The table below shows how contributions can be made to your HSA:

HSA contributions	Employee-only	Dependent coverage
Cisco contribution	$500	$750
Health incentives *	up to $800	up to $1,200
Your contribution **	up to $2,600	up to $5,500
Total allowed by the IRS in 2012 **	$3,100	$6,250

*If you participate in the Health Plus Savings Plan for 2012, you elect to defer any health incentives you earn into your HSA.
**Employees age 55 and over may contribute an additional $1,000 to their HSA in 2012.

Eligibility

To open and make pre-tax contributions to an HSA, you must meet the following requirements:

Be enrolled in the Health Plus Savings Plan
Not be covered by any other medical plan that is not a high-deductible medical plan, including a Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA), even if it is through a spouse's coverage
If you're in the HPSP, you must choose the Limited Purpose FSA rather than the Health Care FSA for 2012

If you are covered by any other non-high-deductible health insurance (such as your spouse's employer's PPO or HMO plan), you are not eligible to make pre-tax contributions to your HSA — even if you are enrolled in the HPSP.

You own and manage your HSA, deciding when and how to spend your HSA funds. Unused funds continue to grow tax-free and can stay in the account year after year. You can accumulate an unlimited amount in your account. There's no “use it or lose it” rule, and the account is completely portable.

Be sure to monitor your HSA annual balances throughout the year. Your health incentives are deposited in your HSA, so make sure you consider this when calculating how much you'll contribute during 2012. If your total contributions exceed $3,100 (or $6,250 with family coverage), the additional funds will be considered taxable income. You may need to make adjustments on your annual tax filing with the IRS.

What you should know about your HSA

Click on the links below to learn more about important features of your HSA:

Click here to see a VoD on Health Accounts and how the HSA differs from the HIA and FSAs.

Click to read FAQs about the Health Plus Savings Plan.