UnitedHealth: Employer Contributions Spur HSA Activity

Companies can encourage employees to use health savings accounts by putting cash in the accounts.

Researchers at UnitedHealth Group Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., a company that sells HSAs and HSA-compatible health coverage, have reported that conclusion in a discussion of the experience of 25,000 consumers who were enrolled in employer-sponsored UnitedHealth HSA programs throughout 2005.

Only 60% of all consumers in HSA-compatible plans actually open HSAs, but that percentage was 91% for employers that contributed to the HSAs, the researchers report.