New HSA Survey

America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) just released its 4^th annual survey of Health Savings Account plans.  As of January, 2008, more than 6.1 million Americans are covered by Health Savings Account (HSA) insurance plans, a 35 percent increase over last year and almost double the number in 2006.Other key findings from the latest survey include:

• The majority of the enrollment continues to come from the employer-based group market – 4.6 million Americans with HSA coverage had employer-based coverage. Of these,30 percent were in the small group market, 45 percent were in the large-group market, and the remaining 25 percent were in the individual market.

• Small businesses are strongly embracing HSAs – HSA enrollment in the small group market increased 70 percent over the past year. More than 1.8 million Americans working for small businesses now have coverage through HSAs.

• HSAs continue to make health insurance more affordable for the uninsured — HSA products accounted for 31 percent of new coverage issued in the small-group market and 27 percent of their new purchases of health insurance in the individual market.

For the first time, AHIP's survey also provides enrollment data by state.  For example, they find that HSA enrollment as a percentage of individuals with private coverage (under age 65) is estimated to be the highest in Minnesota (9.2 percent), followed by Louisiana (9.0 percent), Washington, D.C. (8.7 percent), Vermont (7.5 percent) and Colorado (7.1 percent). On the low end are Hawaii (0.1 percent), Massachusetts (0.9 percent), New Mexico (0.9 percent), West Virginia (1.0 percent), and New York (1.1 percent).

For more information about the 2008 census, please visit http://www.ahipresearch.org/.

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