An Employee Benefits Research Institute survey indicates employer contributions to account-based health plans declined for the second year in a row in 2010.
The 2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey shows that the percentage of workers who reported contributions of $1,000 or more to their account-based health plan declined from 37 percent in 2008 to 28 percent in 2010.
[See also: EBRI research shows growth in HSA, HRA use; Moody's report shows decline in healthcare utilization due to employee benefits changes]
"The recession had a profound effect on employers, and they are continuing to look for ways to cut healthcare costs while empowering their workers to make cost-conscious decisions about their health," said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI's Health Research and Education Program and author of the report.
Workers with employee-only benefits responded by increasing their personal contributions to the accounts, while workers with family coverage did not increase contributions.
The analysis is based on the 2008, 2009, and 2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Surveys and the 2006 and 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Surveys. It examines the availability of health reimbursement arrangement- and health savings account-eligible plans (consumer-driven health plans) as well as employer and individual contribution behavior.
While the majority of Americans get their health benefits from their employers, account-based health plans have increased over the past decade as employers search for ways to control rapidly increasing costs. Account-based health plans usually have high deductibles – $1,000 or more for individual plans – and they allow employees to stash tax-preferred money to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. In 2010 there were 22 million people enrolled in these types of plans.
The report noted that people with lower incomes with HSAs are less likely to make a contribution to their account than those with higher incomes. One-fifth of the people in households with less than $50,000 in income did not contribute to the account in 2010, compared with 12 percent of people with $50,000 or more in household income.
Not surprisingly, the report also noted that people with existing health conditions were more likely to contribute $1,500 or more to an HSA (51 percent) than those without and existing health condition (41 percent).