Getting the Most Value From HSAs

By PlanSponsor

Research shows that employees overwhelmingly use their health savings accounts (HSAs) for current medical expenses. But being able to invest and carry forward the account balance can help the account holder establish better retirement security. It’s important for employers to understand how they can educate their workers on HSA’s as a financial wellness tool and provide information on how to use them.

In the 15 months since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, MetLife has discovered further reasons to offer HSAs: They have a positive impact on workers shaken by the pandemic’s resulting financial uncertainties.

The 19th Annual Benefit Trends Study, fielded in December 2020 and January 2021, found that employees who owned an HSA were 22% more likely to feel as though their benefits helped reduce financial stress overall than employees without one.

The study indicates that, compared to employees without an HSA, employees who owned an HSA felt significantly better about their own financial wellness and much better able to manage stress relating to their personal finances. In fact, they were 22% more likely to say they felt better in general—physically, financially, mentally and socially.

“Two-thirds [64%] of employees with a health savings account say they feel confident about the current state of their finances,” notes Juliane Kowalski, senior vice president of Product Development at MetLife. “This falls to just over half [53%] of those who don’t have this benefit. Those with an HSA are significantly more apt to be confident in saving and investing for the future.

“And that,” she continues, “translates into more employees feeling financially healthy who are then feeling more physically healthy and really having more of a sense of well-being overall and satisfaction with their benefits and their employer.”