MANAGED CARE July 2011. ©MediMedia USA
Health savings account (HSA) insurance plans continue to thrive, with more than 11.4 million Americans covered, up 14 percent from last year alone. HSAs were launched in January 2004, authorized by the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
Since then, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) has conducted annual surveys to keep track of this insurance offering. The latest report, “January 2011 Census Shows 11.4 Million People Covered by Health Savings Account/High-Deductible Health Plans (HSA/HDHPs),” says that enrollment in HSA plans has nearly doubled over the last three years, going from 6.1 million enrollees in January 2008 to 11.4 million in January 2011.
As a percentage of total enrollment in private insurance, though, HSA/HDHP enrollment is relatively small — 6.6 percent.
AHIP reports that 83 health insurers and their subsidiaries offered HSA/HDHP products. Seventy-three of these companies reported HSA/HDHP enrollment in the individual market; 72 insurers reported having small-group market offerings, and 70 insurers had enrollment in the large-market group market.
The fastest growing segment of the HSA market was the large-group coverage plans, which rose 26 percent between January 2010 and January 2011. The individual market followed, growing 15 percent during the period. In the individual market, 2.4 million were enrolled in HSA plans.
States with the highest percentage of HDHP enrollees were: Minnesota (14.9 percent); Vermont (11.4 percent); Colorado (11.3 percent); Montana (10.8 percent); Ohio and Indiana 10.6 percent each. The states with the highest levels of HSA/HDHP enrollment were: California (1,073,319); Texas (844,832); Ohio (728,868); Illinois (690,509); and Florida (656,243).