Health Accounts Continue to Grow in Numbers, Assets

Account-based health plans continued to grow in 2011, increasing to $12.4 billion in assets among 8.4 million accounts, according to the latest survey by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates (MGA). That’s up more than 55 percent in the number of accounts and almost 70 percent in assets since 2010.

This growth comes after a leveling-off of account balances during the recession years of 2008 and 2009, and a slight decline in 2010. The average health account balance was $1,490 in 2011, up 9 percent from 2010.

“As the number of people with account-based plans grows, total assets in these plans can be expected to grow as well,” said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program and author of the report.

These and other findings are based on the results of the 2011 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, published in the January 2012 EBRI Issue Brief, “Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Assets, Account Balances, and Rollovers, 2006–2011,” online at www.ebri.org