Availability, Contributions, Account Balances, and Rollovers in Account-Based Health Plans, 2006-2009

This paper presents findings from the 2008 and 2009 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey and the 2006 and 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Surveys. It examines the availability of HRA and HSA-eligible plans (consumer-driven health plans or CDHPs), as well as employer and individual contribution behavior, time enrolled in such plans, account balances, and rollover behavior. The share of the adult population with private health insurance enrolled in account-based health plans (so-called “consumer-driven” health plans, or CDHPs) remains small but continues to grow. In 2009, 4 percent of the adult population with private health insurance was enrolled in a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or had a high-deductible plan with a health savings account (HSA), up 1 percentage point from the previous year. An additional 4.9 percent were eligible for an HSA but did not have such an account. Overall, 8.9 percent of adults with private insurance were either in a CDHP or were in a high-deductible plan that was eligible for an HSA, but had not opened an account. Among individuals with traditional employment-based health benefits and a choice of health plan, 39 percent were eligible for a CDHP in 2009, up from 33 percent in 2006. Workers with employee-only coverage have seen their annual employer contributions decrease, while those with family coverage have seen their annual employer contributions increase, such that nearly three-quarters of workers with family coverage receive a contribution of $1,000 or more. Both the amount of money that individuals have accumulated in their accounts and the amounts rolled over from year-to-year have grown: Those reporting a rollover of $1,500 or more increased from 13 percent in 2006 to 31 percent in 2009. The PDF for the above title, published in the November 2009 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the full text of another November 2009 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: “Retirement Plan Participation and Asset Allocation, 2007.”