Employees who select health savings accounts as part of their benefits package tend to have strong opinions about how those accounts are managed and which institutions they'd rather see serving as the custodian of their account.
This information flowed from a survey by Alegeus Technologies, the health care and benefit payments service provider.
The survey asked a range of benefits-related questions. When culled out, the HSA responses pointed to a high level of participant engagement.
Recommended For You
Examples:
- 81 percent want an FDIC insured account;
- 68 percent want a recognizable national bank brand;
- 47 percent want to choose the custodial institution;
- 41 percent want their HSA managed by the same bank that manages their personal accounts.
Despite this apparent grasp of key characteristics of an HSA, misconceptions remain, the survey showed. Examples:
- 42 percent continue to view their HSAs as spending accounts;
- 26 percent are unaware that they can carry over HSA funds before the current year;
- 41 percent are unaware that HSA funds can be invested.
Read: 9 things an HSA can do
"Consumers value HSA account features that simplify and enhance the health care experience," Alegeus said. "Debit cards and multi-channel (web/mobile) account access are 'must have' features — with more than 65 percent of consumers rating those features as extremely valuable. Integrated HSA investment capabilities were highly rated as a mechanism to streamline management and growth of healthcare savings. And 75 percent of consumers indicated that they would value integration of HSAs and insurance claim data to streamline the process of reviewing and paying medical bills."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
