WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alegeus, the market leader in consumer directed healthcare (CDH) solutions, today announced part one of its two-part research series on health savings account (HSA) participants, the 2018 Alegeus HSA Participant Profile, which provides unique insight into account holder demographics, fluency and behaviors. The report was commissioned to better understand how HSA participants use their accounts and, more broadly, how they engage in their healthcare compared to the general population.
The premise of healthcare consumerism is that, if given more financial responsibility for healthcare and empowered to make more informed decisions, consumers will make better choices that lead to improved health outcomes and decreased overall healthcare costs. Consumer directed health plans (CDHPs) and HSAs are a centerpiece of healthcare consumerism strategies, and the good news is that they seem to be delivering on their promise. According to the Alegeus research, HSA participants are:
- More fluent in health and financial concepts than their peers. HSA participants are 38 percent more confident they understand their health insurance coverage and 54 percent more confident in forecasting out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
- More focused on cost and value than their peers. HSA participants are 23 percent more likely to make cost/value-based decisions than the general population.
- Savvier spenders than their peers. HSA participants do more pre-purchase diligence; they are 46 percent more likely to research and compare costs and 37 percent more likely to seek out alternatives.
- More disciplined about saving than their peers. HSA participants are 68 percent more likely to have a savings goal and 80 percent more likely to be saving aggressively for future healthcare savings.
Despite these positive characteristics, most HSA participants still don’t get the full value from their accounts. Only 11 percent capitalize on the full tax benefit by contributing up to the maximum amount allowed by the IRS, and only 13 percent have invested their HSA savings for growth. Given the magnitude of healthcare costs consumers will face this year and into retirement, most HSA participants still underfund their accounts.
“As consumer financial responsibilities for healthcare continue to grow, HSAs are the foundation for Americans to get better value for their healthcare dollars,” said Steven Auerbach, Alegeus CEO. “We are pleased to see that HSA participants are exhibiting savvier spending and saving behavior. As an industry, we must continue to emphasize the importance of saving for the future and empower HSA participants to unlock the full tax advantages of these accounts.”
Learn more about Alegeus research:
- Download the full research report, Part one: The 2018 Alegeus HSA Participant Profile
- Register to join the Alegeus webinar, Tuesday, July 24 at 1pm ET, The 2018 HSA Participant Profile: Unique Insights into the Demographics, Knowledge, and Behavior of Empowered HSA Participants.
About Alegeus
Alegeus is the market leader in consumer
directed healthcare (CDH) solutions, offering the industry’s most
comprehensive platform for the administration of healthcare benefit
accounts (including FSAs, HSAs, HRAs, wellness incentive, dependent
care, and commuter accounts), the industry’s most widely-used benefit
debit card, and powerful engagement solutions to help consumers maximize
savings and optimize spending for their healthcare. Over 300 clients –
including health insurance plans, third party administrators and
financial institutions – leverage Alegeus’ deep expertise and proven
technology to administer benefit accounts for more than 30 million
members and process more than $9.1 billion in consumer healthcare
payments annually. As the healthcare and benefit markets continue to
evolve, Alegeus delivers solutions that enable clients to evolve their
service offerings, operate their businesses more efficiently, and focus
on their customers. The company is headquartered in Waltham, MA with
operations in Orlando, FL and Milwaukee, WI.
