Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements : Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006-2013

This paper examines HSA and HRA assets, account balances, and rollover amounts, using data from the 2013 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS). In 2013, there was $23.8 billion in health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), spread across 11.8 million accounts, according to data from the 2013 CEHCS. The number of accounts was up slightly from 2012, when there were 11.7 million accounts. Total assets were up from $18 billion in 2012. For the first time since the survey was launched in 2005, the number of HRAs fell. In 2013, there were 4.7 million HRA accounts, down from 5.1 million in 2012. The number of individuals with HSAs increased from 6.6 million to 7.2 million between 2012 and 2013. Assets in HRAs fell slightly and were about $5.8 billion in 2013. Assets in HSAs increased from $11.3 billion to $16.6 billion between 2012 and 2013. The combined average HRA and HSA account balance increased to $2,010 in 2013. It was $2,311 among HSA participants and $1,236 among HRA participants. Individuals with an HRA or HSA for five years or more had $3,491 in their account. Those with an account for less than a year had less than $2,000 in their account. Average rollover amounts decreased from $1,206 in 2012 to $1,165 in 2013. Total assets being rolled over also decreased: $9.2 billion was rolled over in 2013, down from $9.8 billion in 2012. The percentage of individuals without a rollover who had an account for more than a year was 10 percent in 2013. By 2013, 23 percent of employers with 10-499 workers and 39 percent of employers with 500 or more workers offered either an HRA- or HSA-eligible plan. As a result, these plans covered about 26 million people in 2013, representing about 15 percent of the privately insured market. As the number of people with account-based plans expands, total assets in these accounts can be expected to grow as well