Strategies For Boosting HSA Participation
Aligning health care costs with financial investing might help employers get more workers into health savings accounts, according to UnitedHealth Group, an HSA provider that recently conducted an analysis of HSA enrollees and their employers.Firms that integrate health and financial solutions with HSAs stand a better chance of increasing their HSA participation rate, UnitedHealth Group found.
Nationwide, only 60% of patients in an HSA-eligible plan have opened up an account at a bank. At companies that emphasized online enrollment, made steady HSA contributions and mounted a strong educational campaign, 84% of workers have opened an account.
Nearly 70% of UnitedHealth Group's clients contribute to their employees’ HSAs, with the average employer making a contribution of $895. In addition, 67% of participants added to those accounts, with the average deposit totaling $1,206. Equally important, 86% of participants carried a balance into 2006. The average balance was $815.
“Consumers of all backgrounds are increasingly prepared to play more active roles in their health care financing decisions, as long as the process is integrated and simple to use,” says Tracy Bahl, CEO of Uniprise, a health plan managed by UnitedHealth Group. He believes the “data is beginning to establish a clear pattern of how account-based plan designs are working well to support health care affordability and quality.”
Article provided by BenefitNews 2-1-07.
posted by Mike @ 8:15 AM
1 Comments:
We have at least 300 companies with HSA plans and we would never use the HSA provider that is "integrated" with the health carrier. Why? when you change carriers that next year, you will also have to change for example 400 individual bank accounts or additional fees will kick in. This is one reason insurance carriers are trying to integrate the HSA with the health plan because it will be harder to move the business if everything is under one company. Nothing against UHC, but their HSA provider is terrible in terms of service and fees.
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