Partners
Choice Financial
Lively is not a bank. As a matter of fact, their banking partner is Choice Financial – one of the 50 fastest growing banks in America today. Because Choice Financial takes care of the depository responsibilities, this means the funds in Lively HSAs are safely held by Choice Financial Group and insured to the FDIC maximum, which is currently $250,000.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade helps individual investors pursue their financial goals through their brokerage subsidiaries. For more than 40 years TD has been serving individual investors – from the first-time investor to the sophisticated trader, and from the “do-it-yourself” to the “do-it-for-me” investor. They offer a broad range of investment tools and services.
Platform
“We built it all from the ground up, based on our own lives and the lives of people we know,” says Co-Founder Shobin Uralil of their HSA platform. With Lively you don’t have to worry about third-party issues because they own their technology. This gives Lively the freedom to continually update and add to their platform as they see fit.
Lively is continually improving upon their already modern HSA platform. Since their inception in 2016 Lively has consistently invested in their technology. Most recently they launched an iOS app, Health Plan Deductible Tracker, HSA Marketplace, health plan cost comparison calculator, and a fresh new website.
Even though Lively is one of the most modern administrators out there from a technological standpoint, recent announcement to drop all fees to access investments for individuals and families illustrates managements desire to offer a competitive service.
Also of note, is Lively’s prowess at raising money. In october of 2019, they raised $27 million Series B in a round led by existing investor Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Ally Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, PJC, Teamworthy Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, and Y Combinator. This brings the company’s total funding to more than $42 million. This is good news for users as it’ll enable Lively to keep on adding to their already impressive platform.
Fees
Q; What is the monthly maintenance fee charged by Lively?
Lively’s standard pricing is $2.95 per enrolled employee per month (PEPM) for 16 or more enrolled employees per month.
For 15 or fewer enrolled employees per month, a flat fee of $50 per month will be applied.
Q: Is the employee or the employer expected to pay the maintenance fee?
This is decided by the employer. Lively encourages all employers to cover the monthly PEPM fee. Please note when an employee rolls off their employer plan, the employee will automatically be moved to an individual account, which are free and have no fees.
Q: What is the balance required to avoid the maintenance fee?
The monthly maintenance fee is unavoidable when offered via an employer.
Q: What other fees are on the Lively fee schedule?
Investments
Investment FAQs
Q: Does Lively offer a pre-selected investment lineup? Self-directed brokerage account? or both?
Lively is currently integrated with TD Ameritrade. Via a TD Ameritrade brokerage account, prospective HSA investors can invest in a whole range of options.
Lively has added personalized investment guidance to its investment offering. HSA Guided Portfolio by Devenir, a national leader in investment solutions for health-based accounts, provides personalized portfolio mix suggestions based on your risk preferences and time horizon.
Choose from a curated menu of high-quality, low cost funds across asset classes
Enable automated rebalancing to keep your portfolio on track toward your goalsLively does not offer a pre-selected investment lineup.
Q: Does Lively charge a fee to access the TD Ameritrade self directed brokerage account?
No fees are assessed by Lively. TD Ameritrade commissions are now $0 per equity trade for online US stocks and ETFs. Click here to see the full list of TD Ameritrade investment fees.
Q: Is there a minimum account balance before employees can start investing their HSA dollars?
Lively has no investment threshold, account holders can invest from day 1. First dollar investing!
Q; What investment vehicles are available to employees via TD Ameritrade?
Via a TD Ameritrade brokerage account, HSA investors can invest in a whole range of options including: commission-free ETFs, Over 13,000 mutual funds, Stocks, Bonds, CDs, Options (limited to non-margin option trading). You can search for mutual funds here.
Q: Does Lively have an investment sweep feature?
Lively recently launched an investment sweep feature which allows the account holder to set a dollar threshold and sweep all funds above this automatically. Additionally, HSA funds can be automatically transferred to the brokerage account monthly or quarterly. Funds arrive in TD Ameritrade account 1-2 business days after the transfer is initiated.
Q; If an employer wanted to customize a pre-selected investment lineup would Lively be able to carry this out?
A few administrators offer an open architecture framework that allows for investment lineup customization enabling 401K mirroring. This is a feature that is reserved for large employers. So while possible with Lively, it wouldn’t be something that’s possible for small and medium employers.
Q: Can employees access investments through the main platform? In other words, does it only require one password to access and maintain all aspects of the account, including investments?
With Lively, employees can see a snapshot of all investments selections directly in the Lively dashboard, however employees will have to login to TD Ameritrade to manage investments. Once their TD Ameritrade account is created, they can link it once and every time thereafter. Making investments accessible via single sign-on.
Q: What are the interest rates offered by Lively?
Lively offers participants an FDIC-insured, interest bearing account through their bank partner, Choice Financial. This is the default option when opening an HSA with Lively. Here are the interest rates offered by Lively.
Payments
The overwhelming majority of HSA users are spenders and they’re going to want to pay their healthcare bills with familiar and convenient methods such as debit cards, online bill pay, and checks.
Employers should partner with administrators that are quickly evolving with the digital transformation taking place in healthcare payments. For example, a trend we are currently seeing is the adoption of virtual cards (Apple Pay and Android Pay). Online bill pay has also been gaining traction as more and more providers—and payers—are moving to electronic payments every day. On ther other side of things, check payments are slowly being phased out as the healthcare payment revolution has progressed.
Lively currently allows participants to pay for qualified medical expenses with a debit card and via bill pay. Checks are not provided, however users can order checks on their own and write checks against their account.
- (✓) Debit Card
- (✓) Bill Pay
- (✗) Checks
Reimbursement
When employees pay for qualified medical expenses out-of-pocket, they should be able to access their HSA dollars multiple ways whether it be via online transfers, check disbursements, or ATM withdrawals.
Generally, the best way for employees to reimburse themselves is with electronic funds transfers (EFT) that are processed through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. EFTs are easy, speedy, cost-effective, paperless, safe and secure.
Lively participants can reimburse themselves via transfers. No ATM withdrawals allowed with the Lively HSA debit card. No disbursement checks from Lively.
- (✓) Transfers
- (✗) ATM Withdrawal
- (✗) Checks
Features
Employees will receive a personalized Lively branded MasterCard for qualified medical expenses. They can use the card at the doctor's office, pharmacy, or any other qualified medical expense provider where MasterCard is accepted. Any time participants use their Lively card, the transaction details will automatically be available when they log in to their HSA account.
Employees will undoubtedly want a mobile app that allows them to securely access their HSA account by providing real-time, convenient access when they need it most. A robust mobile application will result in a positive employee experience.
Lively’s HSA App provides a powerful, simple and easy-to-use modern healthcare savings tool that adds to the repertoire of fintech solutions customers use every day. As you can see from the graphic below, early adopters are extremely satisfied with the Lively app.
Lively lets employers manage contributions in the way(s) that work best for them. One-time or recurring scheduled contributions that can be easily connected to an employer’s bank account. Employers can set and automatically contribute as they see fit without any extra work each month. This can all done through the employer dashboard, no need to fill out paperwork to make contribution changes. Control contributions by employee type and easily transition employees if employment status changes.
Maintaining records for HSA-qualified expenses are made easier by providers who offer an “electronic shoebox” feature. HSA owners need to keep accurate records, making a receipt storage and expense tracking tool a must to substantiate qualified medical expenses with receipts and appropriate documentation when the IRS comes knocking on the door. Good record keeping gives HSA participants extraordinary flexibility, especially those who currently want to pay for expenses with after-tax dollars and maximize the tax-free growth of their HSA funds.
Lively allows employees to electronically upload and categorize receipts and other documents so they can view them later.
Employees can add an expense and save it for reimbursement at any time in the future. For purchases not made on the Lively debit card, they can add expenses to be reimbursed.
When evaluating an administrator, it's important to take into account the amount of education the administrator offers. An HSA administrator should make employee education a top priority, so each employee is able to make the best decision possible for his or her situation and maximize the benefits of an HSA. Administrators go about educating participants in a variety of different ways including onsite education, interactive employee communication software, blog posts, calculators, videos/webinars, and e-newsletter/e-mails.
When it comes to education, Lively prefers to offer self-service education options and tools on their website. Lively has built an industry first marketing automation and HSA lifecycle marketing system focused on the true needs of the end consumer. This allows Lively to create fully automated messaging to users from both a product and marketing perspective.
They also use aggregated product data to provide predictive analysis and deliver timely information to enrolled employees, before they ask for it - including open enrollment and tax information.
Furthermore, they employ a team of HSA, healthcare, insurance benefits, personal finance, investing, and retirement experts that have written for Tier 1 publications like CNN Money, Consumer Reports and NY Times to deliver current and newsworthy articles to enrolled employees and administrators alike. They have published over 400 original articles in the last 2 years and will increase that frequency in 2019 and beyond.
Lively invests heavily in HSA employee education. This includes having a robust learning center and resources for employees to get the most out of their HSA. Items include:
A weekly newsletter with best practices
A Searchable Real-Time HSA Eligible Expense List
On-Demand Chat & Support
Product Education
From onboarding and enrollment to payroll contributions, employees know exactly what is going on with their Lively HSA. This also includes new product features that they roll out regularly.
Employee Engagement
They send out weekly topically relevant engagement emails to help employees prepare for seasonal events like open enrollment, healthcare selection, and taxes along with topics that cover the breadth and depth of employee benefits and savings like retirement savings, personal finance, general tax tips and of course HSA-relevant topics. Their weekly engagement newsletter carries an open rate that is 4x higher than the industry average.
An HSA administrator should provide a comprehensive range of support services for employers and employees. Once employees sign up and are presented with the benefits of an HSA, they are sure to have a lot of questions. An HSA administrator should have an experienced, dedicated support team and provide top-notch customer service and account management.
Lively has been in the HSA space for just a few years. That said, users have raved about their service. They have a dedicated expert support team to help answer all HSA related questions. They offer on-demand support via phone, chat-bot and e-mail.
Lively’s singular focus is HSAs. This is important because all of Lively’s time and energy goes towards improving their HSA offering. They are not part of a conglomerate trying to compete for capital and resources.
In terms of support services for an employer you want an administrator that appoints a relationship manager to help with day-to-day questions.
Lively provides a dedicated onboarding specialist to help you get up and running. You and your employees will have access to support by phone, email, and chat—and actually be able to get through.
Lively recently launched a marketplace, where they introduce cost-effective solutions to its users at discounted prices. Initial HSA Marketplace partners include a variety of recognized industry leaders as well as up-and-coming online brands. The selection of these partners showcases the wide range of HSA-eligible expenses and better consumer options, including general expenses, primary care, vision, and dental. Click here to see the list of products and services that Lively has partnered with.
HSAs need to work with your existing benefits and payroll systems to enable automated scheduled HSA contributions and eliminate paperwork. Through payroll integration, the burden of calculations, remittance and compliance is taken off the small business person's hands. For this reason, it’s important to choose an administrator that integrates with your payroll provider.
Lively integrates seamlessly with most major payroll providers. Plus, they offer a friendly help center and phone support to answer any questions employees have about their HSA. Lively is currently automated with the following payroll systems: ADP Workforce Now, ADP Run, Paychex, Quickbooks Online, Gusto, Justworks, Zenefits, Rippling, Paylocity. Lively even manages payroll contributions directly to reduce workload for employers.
Lively can receive and parse a formatted file (either on a recurring or one-time basis) that contains data for employee enrollment, employee data updates, and/or HSA contributions. These formatted files can be uploaded via the Lively employer dashboard or sent using an SFTP process.
In today’s world, managing health care claims is becoming more and more complex. With claims integration your employees’ insurance information is fed directly to their HSA, which gives them easy access to their health records and medical claims in one place. Employees’ can see if they’re using in-network providers, which provider is billing for each individual service, and if the right codes have been applied to ensure proper coverage. Additionally, employees are also provided with information regarding their deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket maximums. Most plans that include provider networks apply different out-of-pocket limits, deductibles, or both, to in-network and out-of-network care. This means employees may want to keep track of their in-network and out-of-network spending and adjust their provider choices if they are close to meeting one limit but not the other.
Lively has made it easy to see precisely what you have paid and your remaining healthcare deductibles for the year. In the Lively dashboard, employees can select their insurance carrier from a list of providers, and enter their insurance Member ID. Within seconds, they’ll immediately be able to see their current healthcare plan spend details categorized by in-network and out-of-network designations. Lively refreshes this data every day, so employees can track their progress throughout the year.
How complex (or not) is your benefits strategy and structure? If your benefits are fairly simple – medical/prescription insurance only; one plan; one set of rates; one uniform contribution strategy; one carrier… you get the point – your benefits administration needs are fairly simple too, and your technology solution doesn’t have to carry a lot of firepower.
On the other hand, if you offer your employees multiple lines of coverage and multiple plan options within some of those lines; you have multiple divisions and/or employee classes, each with a unique premium contribution strategy; and you layer on top of that wellness incentives, spousal surcharges, voluntary benefits, employer funding of an HRA or HSA, and more, well then, you have an entirely different benefits administration need and your technology solution has to be robust.
In addition to offering HSA’s Lively now offers a full suite of healthcare accounts, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs): Medical (or Healthcare) FSA, HSA-Compatible (or Limited Purpose) FSA, Dependent Care FSA.
Vendor Strengths and Cautions
Strengths (+)
Talented management team
Well capitalized startup
Proprietary and integrated HSA platform
Laser-like focus on being the best HSA administrator in the space
They’ve shown the ability to provide a level of service that surpasses that of its closest competitors
Committed to being a cost-effective, feature rich HSA administrator
Has established value added partnerships that are attractive to participants
Gives spending and investing tools equal weight and presence
Access to a broad variety of investments via a TD Ameritrade self-directed brokerage account
First dollar investing
Online receipt storage tool
Robust mobile app
Cautions (-)
Lively’s offering is still being built out and refined
Different password required to sign into TD Ameritrade
Offer fewer access channels to funds than competitors