HSA holders aren’t maximizing accounts, EBRI says
The research finds that funds in health savings accounts are being used for current expenses, rather than being invested for costs during retirement.
Owners of health savings accounts appear to be using the accounts primarily to cover their current expenses rather than fully taking advantage of the accounts’ tax preference by contributing the maximum or maintaining HSA balances for retirement health care expenses.
That is the highlight of longitudinal studies conducted by the Employment Benefit Research Institute.
Other highlights include the fact that the use of investments other than cash within HSAs remains low, and that end-of-year account balances increased between 2011 and 2020 but remained low.
“Between 2019 and 2020, average annual individual contributions fell,” EBRI said in a release. “It is possible that as unemployment increased during the pandemic, HSA owners reduced contributions. Notably, average annual distributions fell as well, reaching an all-time low. The decline in both contributions and distributions may also be due to lower use of health care services during the pandemic.”
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