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HSAs are attracting both young and old

Nearly half of the more than 3 million enrollees in HSA-compatible health plans are age 40 and older, according to a recent survey.

By Amy Snow Landa, amednews correspondent. March 27, 2006.

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Individuals who are young and healthy aren't the only people enrolling in health plans that combine high-deductible coverage with a health savings account. Older consumers are signing up, too.

Nearly half of all enrollees in HSA-compatible health plans are 40 and older, according to the results of a recent industry survey by America's Health Insurance Plans.

Those findings refute predictions by health policy experts that these plans would appeal mainly to people who are young and healthy, said AHIP President Karen Ignagni, who announced the survey results March 9.

"It suggests that the hypothesis that was bandied about two years ago, that [this product] was going to appeal only to the young and healthy people, is not borne out by the data," she said.

But Ignagni acknowledged the survey looked only at the age of enrollees and not their health status.

The health status of consumer-driven health plan enrollees compared with those in traditional plans is a matter of debate in the health policy community. The concern is that healthier individuals will opt for HSAs, and this would cause a shrinking pool of sicker individuals who stick with traditional plans.

A recent survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Commonwealth Fund found consumer-driven health plan enrollees are slightly more likely to report being in excellent or very good health and less likely to be obese or to smoke than counterparts in traditional plans. But they had a similar likelihood of having chronic conditions.