Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, have become a significant and growing part of American workers’ health benefit programs, and the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) wants to better understand how these programs are designed and administered.
In order to do so PSCA, part of the American Retirement Association (ARA), has opened its first annual HSA benchmarking survey.
The survey is designed to benchmark plan sponsors’ use of HSA plans and measure their perceptions of HSAs as a retirement savings vehicle.
The deadline for participation is March 8.
Enrollment in high-deductible, HSA-eligible health plans covered nearly three in 10 employees in 2017, and more than three-quarters of HSAs, 77 percent, were created since 2014, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
“HSA balances continue to grow year-over-year,” EBRI added. Overall, “two-thirds of account holders ended 2017 with positive net contributions. The average HSA balance among account holders with individual or employer contributions in 2017 was $2,764, up from $1,873 at the beginning of that year.”
“Due to the growing importance and prevalence of HSA plans since their creation in 2003, PSCA has identified this as a key area for plan sponsors,” Hattie Greenan, director of research and communications, said in a statement. “We rely on input and participation from the plan sponsor community in order to continue to highlight significant trends and innovations with regard to HSA plans and their role as retirement savings vehicles.”
Survey participation
UPDATE – Survey has been completed.
Plan sponsors can participate in the survey online here.
Participating plan sponsors will receive a copy of the full results. Advisors and providers that successfully refer clients to the survey also will receive a free copy of the survey report. Those interested can request a sample email at research@psca.org.
Questions regarding the survey can be directed to research@psca.org.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
