The number of health savings accounts and health reimbursement accounts continued to rise in 2010, numbering 5.7 million accounts, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Assets in these accounts also increased to $7.7 billion.
HSAs and HRAs are used by employers as a way to give employees more control over how their healthcare money is spent. However, they may not be having the intended effect. According to a report issued by EBRI, there was no relationship between either account balance or rollover amounts and various cost-conscious behaviors such as checking prices before getting services or asking for generic drugs instead of brand names.
"It is expected that individuals who are given more control over funds allocated for healthcare services will become more cost conscious, especially once they become more educated about the actual price of health services," said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI's Health Research and Education Program and author of the report. "However, no evidence was found to support this with respect to some of the measures used in this study of cost-conscious behavior."
According to the survey:
- Average account balances dropped. Even though the number of accounts has grown from 1.2 million in 2006 to 5.7 million in 2010, average balances in accounts dropped slightly to $1,355, down from $1,419 reported last year. Men had higher average balances than women, older workers had higher balances than younger account holders, and those who exercised, did not smoke and were not obese also had higher account balances.
- Average rollovers amounts decreased. Despite the average rollover amount decreasing from 2009, due to the increase in the number of accounts, the total dollar amount of rollovers increased slightly to $4.2 billion, compared with $4 billion in 2009. The average rollover increased from $592 in 2006 to $1,295 in 2009 and fell to $1,029 in 2010. The percentage of individuals without a rollover decreased from 23 percent in 2006 to 10 percent in 2009 and increased slightly to 13 percent in 2010.
- Account balances increased with household income. The average account balance was $1,166 among individuals with less than $50,000 in household income, $1,303 among individuals with $50,000−$99,999 and $1,742 among individuals with $100,000 or more. Account balances increased for those with less than $50,000 in household income, fell for those with $50,000−$99,999 and stayed the same for those with $100,000 or more.
- Education has an impact on account balances independent of income and other variables. Individuals with a high school degree or less have an average of $1,219 in their account, while those with a college degree have $1,519 and those with a graduate degree have $1,558. Only individuals with a graduate degree experienced a decline in their average account balance in 2010.
The complete findings, published in the January 2011 EBRI Issue Brief, "Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006–2010," can be found online by visiting www.ebri.org.