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November 21, 2007
Health Savings Account Growth Continues
Growth in Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) continues unabated according to third-quarter figures gathered from account custodians. Initial returns from Information Strategies, Inc.'s quarterly survey of financial institutions indicate that the country is on track toward almost 8 million custodial accounts by the beginning of 2008.
With the process of education about the uses and benefits of Consumer Directed Healthcare (CDH) options finally taking hold, many individuals and companies are accepting CDH employer options, including Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs).
Industry stakeholders are worried that a Democratic sweep in the November 2008 elections will put these efforts in jeopardy, as leading candidates in that party support some form of national, universal healthcare plan.
One counter-balance to this scenario is the popularity of Health Savings Accounts in key swing states: Ohio, California, Texas and Florida. Combined, they are enough to swing the electoral-college vote.
At the same time, the growing support for HSAs by the so-called Blues healthcare insurance companies, combined with the expanding savings rate (expected to top $10 billion with estimates as high as $13 billion at the beginning of January) will make HSAs hard to kill in a new Congress.
Posted by Wiley Long at November 21, 2007 08:03 AM