Updated Data on Rollovers in Health Savings Accounts

Source: EBRI

Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006–2009

June 2010
EBRI Issue Brief #343
Paperback, 32 pp.
PDF, 546 kb
Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2010

Download Issue Brief PDF

Executive Summary

ASSET LEVELS GROWING: In 2009, there was $7.1 billion in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), which include health savings accounts (or HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (or HRAs), spread across 5 million accounts. This is up from 2006, when there were 1.2 million accounts with $835.4 million in assets, and 2008, when 4.2 million accounts held $5.7 billion in assets.

DIFFERENCES IN ROLLOVER AMOUNTS: Men rolled over more money than women, whites have higher rollover amounts than minorities, and the youngest adults and the oldest adults had the largest rollover amounts in 2009. Rollover amounts increase with household income and education, and individuals with single coverage rolled over a slightly higher average amount than those with family coverage. There was no statistically significant difference in rollover amounts by health status, although individuals who smoke had higher rollover amounts than those who do not and obese individuals had lower average rollover amounts than nonobese individuals. Individuals who talked to their doctor about treatment options and costs, those who used an online cost-tracking tool provided by the health plan, and those who asked their doctor to recommend a less costly prescription drug had higher rollover amounts than those who did not take such actions.