Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

HSA Success --  Impressive Growth

Health savings accounts (or HSAs) for health care insurance plans seem to offer one of the best options in several years. They are typically implemented as an option of en employee's health care insurance plan. They are untaxed and very easy to employ. Just a simple pay deduction builds the account. In most cases, drawing from the account is about as easy…just swipe the plan's credit card to pay bills, or simply request a cash reimbursement from the plan administrator (on-line or in person). Of course the expenses have to be for medical purposes (either formal or over-the-counter) to avoid IRS recapture, but there is no up-front paperwork. Just be sure to maintain prudent documentation for IRS purposes. Nothing special, typically receipts. The hurdle for something this new, as good as it is, is to get it proliferated and implemented into a company's health care insurance plan suite. The results have been quite favorable.

Largely to the good credit of large employers, HSAs for health care insurance plans have met with good success and impressive growth. HSAs for health care insurance were introduced back in 2004. The America's Health Insurance Plans' Center for policy and research has conducted a census showing that there are now about 6.1 million persons with such accounts. This represents a 35% increase just since last year. The figure is almost double the persons enrolled in these plans in the year 2006.

It is reported by the president and CEO of AHIP, Karen Ignagni, that large employers are stepping up and offering more choices to their employees for their health care insurance plans. Also, large health care insurance carriers are stepping up too, by offering these options. Both of these conditions are considered to account for this impressive success.

According to the figures, these large employers account for about 45% (2.8 million enrollees) for the HSA health care insurance options. The census indicates the growth rate of enrollment for this category has risen by 37% above 2007. For 2007, the average employee HSA balance was $1380 (there are maximums). The average amount of that spent was $1080.