Employee’s are learning how to use their HSAs more and more. A report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the average amount of money in an HSA increased by 37 percent in 2014. At this time there are currently 13.8 million HSAs covering around 17 million individuals, with the accounts being worth an estimated $24.2 billion.
HSAs were created in 2003 enabling individuals with high deductible health plans to have tax free saving on medical expenses. Although, the Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that four out of five current HSA accounts have been created since 2011. The rise in HSAs seems to be associated with the passing of the ACA. Now that health insurance is mandatory this is a way to take advantage of an investment potential. Your HSA is able to be connected to an investment account, but their are only 6% of accounts that are.
Individual are not utilizing the full potential of their accounts, but this is a start to an unfamiliar concept for many. 80 percent of policyholders are using their accounts for medical expenses. Adults under the age of 25 withdrew an average of $636, whereas those between ages 55 and 64 withdrew an average of $2,373.
As individuals become more familiar with HSAs and the benefits these types of policies have there should be an even greater number of Health Savings Accounts opening in 2016. Read the full BenefitsPro Article HERE.