New poll shows consumers back health savings accounts

HSA-based health insurance plans combine individually owned savings accounts with traditional major medical insurance. HSAs give individuals the opportunity to use tax-free funds to pay day-to-day medical bills and to save for future health care expenses.

Under the new law, HSAs are required to be established in combination with insurance coverage through a qualifying high deductible health plan. Federal regulations announced last week responded to employees' concerns that preventive care and disease prevention programs be allowed without counting toward deductible requirements set out in the legislation.

Ignagni said the survey shows many consumers lack detailed information about how these new plans actually work. However, once people have information about HSAs, they generally react positively to the opportunity to play a more active role in seeking health care coverage, she said.

The survey also found that:

• Despite the relative newness of HSAs in the market, 42 percent of all consumers say they are very or somewhat familiar with HSA style accounts compared with 39 percent who say they are not all familiar with them.
• When given a description of an HSA-based consumer choice plan, 71 percent of consumers have an overall favorable opinion of these types of plans compared with 22 percent who react unfavorably.
• People react positively to HSAs across party and ideology. The new approach was viewed favorably by 75 percent of the Republicans and self-described conservatives interviewed, as well as by 67 percent of the Democrats and 62 percent of self-described liberal respondents.
• Consumers find the roll-over of unused balances (91 percent favorable) and the tax-free nature of the accounts (81 percent favorable) to be the most attractive features of HSA-based consumer choice plans.
• Personal control, choice, and lower costs are all very favorable attributes of HSAs -- with more than 7 out of 10 respondents citing one of these attributes when asked about the attractiveness of HSAs.
• Overall, 68 percent of the people who have health insurance benefits through their jobs expressed satisfaction with their current coverage, up slightly from previous years.

The recently released survey builds on a series of studies conducted by the trade association over the last year. Based on three national surveys and eight focus groups, AHIP's research findings represent the most comprehensive study available of consumer and employer attitudes toward consumer choice health plans.

The consumer survey released today was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies in mid-July, and questioned 500 privately insured adults under the age of 65, providing a margin of error of 4.4 percent.