When HR professionals reevaluate their spending account providers, the most common trigger is not cost or contract terms. It is employee feedback. A survey of more than 300 HR professionals by InComm Benefits found that 73% cite employee feedback as the top factor when reassessing spending account providers.
The finding has direct implications for benefits brokers. It positions employee satisfaction data as a direct entry point for renewal conversations about group benefits programs that include health savings accounts (HSAs) or flexible spending accounts (FSAs).
The survey mapped where dissatisfaction with current providers is concentrated. Employee experience was the top frustration cited, named by 41% of respondents. Technology limitations followed at 40%, integration issues at 33%, and customer service at 31%.
Those frustrations carry a workload cost. More than half of HR professionals (58.5%) said they regularly field questions from employees about their spending accounts. The most common questions involved eligible purchases, claims submission, account usage, and rollover rules.
When employees cannot find answers independently, HR absorbs the support burden. That load competes with a broad range of other duties. Survey respondents reported managing recruitment and hiring (64%), employee communications (62%), payroll (61%), insurance offerings (57%), and compliance and regulatory work (52%).
The Hartford's 2026 Future of Benefits Study, conducted separately, found that 73% of HR professionals said their day-to-day responsibilities have grown. Sixty-four percent reported that managing multiple benefit carriers is a challenge.
Dave Etling, senior vice president and general manager of InComm Benefits, said the pattern points to a gap in how providers support end users. "Employees are not necessarily disengaged from their benefits," he said. "Many are simply unsure how to use them." Etling added that when employees need help understanding eligibility, claims, or reimbursement rules, HR becomes the default support channel.
When asked to rank what prospective providers should offer, HR professionals put faster support response times first. Dedicated client support management ranked second, followed by a demonstrated ability to engage employees.
On product improvements, 55% of respondents cited more flexible benefit options as the top opportunity to improve the employee experience. Simplified education followed at 52%, alongside better technology at 52%. Faster payments and reimbursements were cited by 50.5%.
The gap between what HR professionals want and what current providers deliver points to a renewal risk that benefits brokers should track. Dissatisfied HR teams are already listening to employee complaints, and 73% cite those complaints as grounds to reconsider their provider.
Lockton's 2026 National Benefits Survey has found that 54% of employers now rank cost reduction as their top benefits priority, up from 38% in 2025. Talent attraction fell behind cost for the first time.
That creates a specific opening for benefits brokers. Employee utilization data and provider service quality are levers most clients are not yet optimizing for, even as cost pressure dominates renewal conversations.
The survey also captured where HR professionals stand on emerging technology. Fifty-seven percent said they already use AI in education or training related to benefits administration. Fifty-five percent expressed enthusiasm about the potential of AI tools in their departments.
Those figures suggest AI-assisted benefits education is already a current practice for most HR teams, rather than a future consideration. Brokers advising clients on benefits platform selection may find that AI-enabled employee support tools are becoming a baseline expectation rather than a differentiator.
