ConnectYourCare Survey Finds Consumer Experience and Concern Over Future Health Care Costs Drive HSA-Based Health Plan Enrollment

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- In a year that has seen health insurance costs spike across the country, an increasing number of consumers are enrolling in Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as a way to help pay for future medical costs, according to the results of a new survey (see also ConnectYourCare).

According to the ConnectYourCare Consumer-Driven Health Plan Enrollment & Usage Trends Survey, more than 40 percent of the HSA participants interviewed said they enrolled in HSAs in order to use the accounts as savings vehicles for future health care needs. This response came in ahead of "tax savings," which 21 percent selected, and "lower premiums" offered by High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), which only 9.5 percent of survey respondents selected.

The survey also showed that future health care costs are a major concern when considering retirement. When ConnectYourCare - a national leading consumer-driven health care solutions provider - asked more than 14,000 workers what their primary concern is when it comes to retirement, 63 percent of the respondents selected health care expenses (such as insurance premiums, prescription costs, and other medical expenses) over lifestyle expenses (paying for housing, vehicles, vacations, etc.).

The same respondents expressed concern that while Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) offer many of the same advantages as HSAs, IRS requirements regarding FSA claims can add significant complexities. About half of the survey respondents said that decreasing the need to submit documentation per IRS guidelines for eligible expenses is the FSA change they would most like to see made -making it the most popular response.

When deciding how much to contribute to an HSA and/or FSA, 58 percent of those surveyed said that reviewing previous spending habits is the most useful activity. Twenty-two percent preferred reviewing potential savings and spending scenarios.

ConnectYourCare also surveyed nearly 250 employers. When asked to rate the importance of several factors when evaluating health account vendors, 85 percent of benefits decision-makers rated "employee customer service" as very important, while 81 percent ranked "overall employee experience" as very important. By comparison, the price of the benefits solution was rated as very important by 66 percent of respondents, indicating employers are placing a greater emphasis on maintaining or improving employee satisfaction with CDHPs versus cost savings.

The employer survey also shows that employee education and communications will continue to require significant resources. Surprisingly - given all the efforts by third-party advisors, employers, and others within the industry - one of the largest barriers to enrollment is employees' lack of awareness of financial tax benefits. In the survey, 47 percent of employers said employees did not enroll in HSAs, FSAs, and other tax-advantaged accounts because they are simply unaware of financial tax benefits.

"The results from our survey indicate that while progress is being made - and consumers are beginning to take advantage of tax-favored benefit accounts - many are still simply unaware of all the benefits offered through these products," said Barbara Boudreau, Vice President of Strategy at ConnectYourCare.

Keywords for this news article include: Managed Care, ConnectYourCare, Investment and Finance.

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