HSA Usage Continues Growth

Data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s (EBRI)’s health savings account (HSA) database shows nearly 30% of employers offered an HSA-eligible health plan in 2015.

The third annual update of the EBRI HSA database shows that at year-end 2015 (the latest data available), the average HSA balance was $1,844, up from $1,332 at the beginning of the year. Average account balances increased with the age of the owner of the account. Account balances averaged $759 for owners younger than age 25 and $3,623 for owners ages 65 and older.

More than four in five HSAs (85%) have been opened since the beginning of 2011.

Investing HSA Assets 

About 3% of HSAs had invested assets (beyond cash). Thirty-six percent of HSAs with investments ended 2015 with a balance of $10,000 or more, whereas only 4% of HSAs without investments had such a balance.

Among HSAs with investments, accounts opened in 2015 ended the year with an average balance of $4,907 whereas those opened in 2005 had an average balance of $27,903 at the end of 2015.

Contributions and Distributions 

On average, individuals who made contributions in 2015 contributed $1,864 to their account. HSAs receiving employer contributions in 2015 received $948, on average.

Four-fifths of HSAs with a 2015 contribution also had a distribution during 2015. Of the HSAs with distributions, the average amount distributed was $1,748.

Distributions increased as HSA owners’ ages increased. For example, 2015 distributions averaged $634 for HSA owners younger than age 25; $2,319 for owners ages 55 to 64; and $2,365 for owners ages 65 and older.

The full report, “Health Savings Account Balances, Contributions, Distributions, and Other Vital Statistics, 2015: Estimates from the EBRI HSA Database,” is published in the November 29 EBRI Issue Brief, online at www.ebri.org.