Blog Archives - Aya

Health Spending Accounts Eligible Expenses

Chanddeep Madaan — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 01:33:20 +0000

Health spending accounts (HSAs) contain many more eligible expense items than traditional benefit plans. HSAs are a 100% tax-free benefit for both corporations and employees, it is like having a bank that employees can use for all of their medical, dental, vision and so much more.

The Canada Revenue Agency lists all the different types of services and products that can be expensed as part of an HSA. If you have a health spending account it is always good to check the Canada Revenue Agency website to determine if your expense is eligible.

All of the typical products and services covered under traditional group benefit plans are also covered with a health spending account. HSAs can also be used to cover expenses when you have maxed out traditional benefit plan expenses. For example if your plan covers $500 in chiropractic services, and additional expenses over and above the $500 can be covered by your HSA. Some of these common items include

Dentist

Optometrist

Chiropractor

Massage therapist

Naturopath

Prescriptions

There are many other less common items and services that are eligible expenses for health spending accounts. Below are some of the more obscure items that can be expensed.

Private Health Insurance Premiums

Premiums paid to a non-government medical or hospital care plan can be expensed. Examples would include Blue Cross, Manulife Flexcare and Sun Life Affinity.

Air Conditioner

You can expense $1,000 or 50% of the amount paid for an air conditioner, whichever is less. In order for the expense to be eligible the person must have a severe chronic ailment, disease, or disorder and a prescription is required for it to be considered eligible.

Wigs

A prescription is required and the amount paid for the wig can be expensed as long as the person has suffered abnormal hair loss because of a disease, accident or medical treatment.

Health spending accounts are a more robust and flexible option for all of your healthcare related expenses.

The post Health Spending Accounts Eligible Expenses appeared first on Aya.

Benefits of the Aya Card

Chanddeep Madaan — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 20:28:03 +0000

Giving employees an Aya Card to use for all of their health spending account and wellness spending account expenses provides them with many benefits. We will outline some of the substantial benefits below. The biggest benefit that you are provide your employees by giving them an Aya Card is that you allowing them to take care of their health and wellness without worrying about finances.

Never pay out-of-pocket

Many employees avoid trips to the dentist or to the optometrist even when they have group benefit plans and the simple reason is they do not want to or are unable to pay for the expense out-of-pocket. With the Aya Card an employee never has to worry about using their own money to pay for any of their health or wellness related expenses.

Easy to use

The Aya Card can be used at any health or wellness merchant. You swipe the card to pay for your expenses, take a photo of the receipt and upload it to the Aya app or within the Aya website and you are finished. No paperwork to fill out, no forms to submit and no waiting to be reimbursed. In addition to that the Aya Card can be used anywhere in the world to cover your health and wellness related expenses.

When looking to add a health or wellness spending account consider going with Aya Card, your employees will thank you and you will thank yourself. You will have a happy and healthy workforce.

The post Benefits of the Aya Card appeared first on Aya.

Wellness Spending Accounts – Endless Possibilities

Chanddeep Madaan — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 18:51:23 +0000

Bridging the gap between plan sponsors and plan members

Wellness Spending Accounts (WSA) are the ideal solution to bridge the gap between what plan sponsors are interested in covering and what plan would use if they were added to their group health benefits plan.

2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey

According to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey plan sponsors and plan members differ significantly on what they would like to cover compared to what members would use if provided. For plan sponsors they would like to cover 24-hour virtual care, followed by immunizations for infectious diseases and health risk screenings. Plan members would choose fitness classes, personal trainers and 24-hour virtual care as their top three choices of products and services they would like covered by their group benefits plan.

Health or fitness products?

Plan sponsors appear to be more interested in covering health-related expenses while plan members would use products more focused on physical fitness. Many of the products and services listed in the survey are not covered under any traditional group benefits plan and others would not even be covered under a non-taxable health spending account (HSA). An HSA covers substantially more healthcare related expenses than traditional group benefits plans, however even they have limitations and that is where the wellness spending account can fill the gap.

Wellness spending accounts – taxable benefit is worth it

Even though wellness spending accounts are taxable and will appear on their T4 or T4A there is still tremendous benefit to them. Clearly from the survey plan members would use wellness products if they were provided by their plan sponsors. The additional benefit to wellness spending accounts is that the plan sponsor can determine what they are willing and not willing to cover as an eligible expense. Thus, they can cover the health-related expenses that they want to provide as well as the fitness related benefits that plan members are looking for.

Wellness spending accounts can be the ideal solution for both plan sponsors and plan members when covering certain benefit expenses.

The post Wellness Spending Accounts – Endless Possibilities appeared first on Aya.

Use Health Spending Accounts To Achieve All Your New Year’s Resolutions

Chanddeep Madaan — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 14:19:47 +0000

It is a new year but for everyone in Canada and around the world a lot of the same concerns and stresses remain with Covid and the Omicron variant spreading rapidly. Everywhere you look the talk is about booster vaccination shots or knowing someone who has gotten Covid and is missing work or school classes being online and if they should be or not. If one person in a family gets Covid then before you know it the entire family has it as well; and be symptomatic or asymptomatic, they must isolate and hope that they don’t get very sick and require hospitalization.

January is typically a time for New Year’s resolutions, to lose weight, or to join a gym or yoga class, maybe it is to read more books or connect with old friends more often. People enjoy setting goals for themselves to start off the year, a new year, and a new outlook, striving to be better then the year before.

When it comes to setting resolutions and goals; everyone is different, there is no one size fits all approach to setting goals for yourself. It should be that way, nobody knows you better than you know yourself and therefore nobody is in a better position to determine what will make you happier, or healthier or provide you a more positive outlook than you.

Having health and wellness spending accounts is the ideal solution for dealing with New Year’s resolutions; it is the ideal benefit solution for offering employees the flexibility and freedom they desire to do as they choose for themselves and their wellbeing. With health and wellness spending accounts the choice is up to the individual on how and what they spend their health expenses dollars on.

Like New Year’s resolutions, health and wellness spending account expenses everyone is different; nobody is locked into specific expenses or sets of expenses. Having a health spending account allows the individual to know themselves better once again than anyone else and choose health choices that make them feel as good as they can.

The post Use Health Spending Accounts To Achieve All Your New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Aya.

Top 10 Reasons To Choose Aya For Your Health Spending Account

Chanddeep Madaan — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 20:26:10 +0000

Health Spending Accounts continued to grow in 2021 as more and more companies added them to their current group health benefits or added them as a stand-alone option for their employees group health benefits. As we close out the year, we expect that health spending accounts will continue to become more and more prevalent in 2022. Let’s look at top ten reasons to choose Aya for your health spending account provider.

Top ten reasons to choose Aya as your health spending account provider

You never have to pay out-of-pocket with the Aya Mastercard®
They are tax free
There are never any increases in your rates
You can carry over any unused funds into the following year
Dependents are covered
Can be used for pre-existing conditions
Funds can be used for any healthcare expense
There is no paperwork to fill out when submitting claims
Aya Mastercard® can be used anywhere in the world
You never have to pay out-of-pocket with the Aya Mastercard®

Now we will dig into each reason and explain the benefits of each.

Using the Aya Mastercard® means you do not have to pay out-of-pocket for any of your health expenses, simply use the card, take an image of the receipt, upload to the Aya app and you are finished.

Health spending accounts are tax free to employees and tax deductible for employers; the best of both worlds while paying for your healthcare.

Unlike traditional group health benefit plans that typically have an increase in rates every year, health spending accounts only increase if the employer chooses to add more money to employee’s accounts. Providing cost-certainty is a benefit to any employer looking to control costs and budgets.

In traditional group benefit plans if you do not use any allotted funds for a given category then you forfeit them at the end of your plan year. With health spending accounts any unused funds can be carried over for an additional 12 months and if still unused those funds are returned to the employer.

Dependents are covered under health spending accounts and in addition to that, who can be considered a dependent under health spending accounts is much wider then with traditional group benefit plans. As long as the individual resides with you and is financially dependent on you, they can be considered a dependent.

You can use health spending accounts to pay for any pre-existing condition you had before you obtained the health spending account.

You choose what health expenses to pay for, you are not bound to any category limits. Also, the list of expenses that can be covered is much greater than traditional plans.

Aya is a completely digital experience, from onboarding to submitting claims there is no paperwork, everything can be done within the Aya app or on the Aya website.

The Aya Mastercard® can be used at any health merchant anywhere in the world. If you are travelling for business or pleasure and need to pay for a healthcare expense, you are covered.

Yes number 1 and 10 are the same reason but for good reason, not having to pay -out-of-pocket for your healthcare might be the difference between getting those new pair of glasses or making that trip to the dentist. Not all employees have the disposable income to pay for their expenses and wait to get reimbursed.

As health spending accounts continue to grow, consider choosing Aya as your provider and give your employees the Aya Mastercard® to pay for the health related expenses.

The post Top 10 Reasons To Choose Aya For Your Health Spending Account appeared first on Aya.

Announcing strategic marketing advisor, Barry Stamos

Chanddeep Madaan — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 17:48:47 +0000

Chanddeep Madaan, CEO, is excited to announce Barry Stamos as a founding advisor focused on strategic marketing to Aya Payments.

“Barry is an exited founder (unicorn) who is an expert in growth marketing and scaling speed-to-value. He is exactly the type of advisor that Aya was looking for..”, said Chanddeep Madaan.

Barry is an exited Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and marketing expert. He is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at 500 Global, the most active Venture Capital firm in the world (#1 VC globally in exits). Barry built a $300M+ professional services practice from scratch, as the Global Practice Leader of Strategy & Innovation at Acxiom (served most Fortune 100 brands).

Barry’s rare combination of creative, strategic, and analytical skills will provide Aya with the marketing advice that will drive growth and demand generation. “Having someone with Barry’s experience and skill set on our advisory board is a tremendous asset to Aya and we are very excited to have him as an advisor.”, added Madaan. “I believe in Aya’s leadership team and purpose in empowering people financially for health and wellness spending,” said Barry. “I see the mega trends of democratization, and thanks to Aya employees will now have the ability to choose from a wider range of treatments across practitioners, physicians and medical care providers and products without worrying about reimbursements.”

The post Announcing strategic marketing advisor, Barry Stamos appeared first on Aya.

Health Spending Accounts (HSA) – Maximize Cost Savings

Chanddeep Madaan — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 22:29:23 +0000

Discover the substantial cost savings offered by health spending accounts (HSA) compared to personally paying for medical expenses as a single-person corporation. This informative post showcases the potential savings and highlights why obtaining a health spending account is a worthwhile investment for covering your healthcare expenses, as opposed to relying solely on personal income. Health spending accounts are 100% tax-deductible for your business and can be utilized for all healthcare expenses, including those of your dependents.

If you choose to pay for healthcare expenses with personal income, you’ll be using your net income after tax deductions. However, by opting for a health spending account, you can pay for the same expenses using your business income, with the amount paid becoming a tax deduction for your business and tax-free for you as an individual.

Let’s explore different scenarios to illustrate the cost savings potential of a Health Spending Account (HSA) based on various income levels. For the purpose of this example, we will assume a business in Ontario, utilizing Ontario tax rates for calculations. Additionally, we will consider a $10,000 health spending account and assume a 10% administration fee. Please note that these figures are based on 2021 tax rates.

Income	HSA Admin Fee +Taxes	Average Tax Rate	Savings
$50,000	21.50%	15.31%	-6.19%
$100,000	21.50%	23.45%	1.95%
$150,000	21.50%	30.11%	8.61%

Savings of having a health spending account versus paying for expenses with net income

If your business generates minimal revenue, there may not be a significant tax advantage to having a health spending account. However, once your business exceeds $86,375 in revenue, based on the aforementioned figures, having a health spending account becomes a beneficial choice. In other provinces, the revenue threshold for advantageous HSAs may be lower, as Ontario imposes higher taxes on health spending accounts compared to other provinces.

Health spending accounts do have taxes applied based on the claim amount, your province of residence, and the administration fee charged. However, as demonstrated in the table above, if your business generates revenue exceeding $100,000, a health spending account emerges as the ideal choice.

The post Health Spending Accounts (HSA) – Maximize Cost Savings appeared first on Aya.

Experienced sales leader Ala Lada joins Aya as Director of Sales

Chanddeep Madaan — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 16:57:51 +0000

Aya is pleased to announce that Ala Lada has joined the leadership team as the Director of Sales, reporting into Chanddeep Madaan, CEO. Ala brings years of experience in the industry as well as a vast network of senior level connections and will play a strong role in building and growing the team as well as revenue, said Chanddeep Madaan.

Ala is a results-driven leader who was most recently with Alberta Blue Cross as the Manager of Group Sales & Business Development for southern Alberta. While at Alberta Blue Cross, he managed a team of 20 sales and service representatives who were responsible for revenue growth and customer retention. Prior to Alberta Blue Cross, he was Director, Strategic Partnerships at Nuera Insurance Inc, an InsureTech brokerage and before that he was a regional manager with Echelon Insurance.

We are thrilled to have Ala join our team here at Aya and are very much looking forward to his leadership and contributions towards our rapidly growing business, added Madaan.

The post Experienced sales leader Ala Lada joins Aya as Director of Sales appeared first on Aya.

Aya named 2021 5-Star insurance technology award winner

Chanddeep Madaan — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 21:55:03 +0000

Aya was recently named one of ten 2021 5-Star insurance technology providers award winners by Insurance Business Magazine Canada. A leading provider of health and wellness spending accounts, Aya is very much a technology company first built on a fully customizable platform and one an one-of-a-kind financial infrastructure.

Providing health and wellness to everyone is at the core of everything Aya does; using technology is how we achieve it. Digital onboarding to never having to pay out-of-pocket for any health or wellness claim, to no paperwork to submit is the Aya experience. Using our beautifully designed and user friendly app a user can simply pay for their expense using our prepaid Mastercard®, take a photo of the receipt and hit submit. The entire process can be completed before ever leaving the health or wellness provider.

The goal is to make paying for health care as easy as possible, removing all of the stress during a time when the user is not always feeling their best and building the platform that will allow users to achieve that satisfaction from using an award-winning technology.

Knowing that insurance brokers were the group that voted on and selected the winners makes winning the award that much better. Brokers are our partners, out in the market selling Aya to their clients; having them select Aya as 5-Star insurance technology provider award winner shows that Aya is a leader when it comes to health and wellness spending accounts and that brokers are looking to provide a great solution to their clients.

The post Aya named 2021 5-Star insurance technology award winner appeared first on Aya.

Announcing strategic advisor and investor Jon Mackey

Chanddeep Madaan — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 20:20:30 +0000

Chanddeep Madaan, CEO, is excited to announce Jon Mackey has joined Aya Payments as a strategic advisor as well as an investor. Aya was looking for an advisor who had a wealth of experience and senior level connections within Canada’s largest companies; Jon fits that description perfectly. Jon was initially brought on in an advisory role, however within a week of working with Aya he chose to also become an investor.

Jon Mackey

Jon is the Managing Director of Canada for True Search, a global executive recruitment agency who focuses on investment firms, their portfolio companies, and public companies seeking transformative growth. He will lead True Search’s expansion in the Canadian market. Prior to True Search he spent five years as Managing Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, and previously held senior HR positions at the Royal Bank of Canada.

Finding strategic advisors that can work with Aya’s senior leadership team, drawing on their industry experience and knowledge will help strengthen Aya. Jon will provide extensive experience in human resources as well as his large number of close connections that will strengthen Aya’s ability to drive revenue and customer engagement and form new partnerships.

Jon has been an incredible benefit to both Aya and myself, states Madaan, the guidance and advice he provides me as a CEO separates him from any other advisor. Aya is very happy to have Jon onboard and we look forward to working with him as we continue to provide health and wellness to everyone.

The post Announcing strategic advisor and investor Jon Mackey appeared first on Aya.