Only a tiny fraction of the growing number of people with health savings accounts invests the money in their accounts in the financial markets, according to a recent study. The vast majority leave their contributions in savings accounts instead, where the money may earn lower returns…
The EBRI study found that 6.4 percent of people with HSAs invested their health savings account contributions in mutual funds or other financial vehicles. The remainder left the contributions in savings accounts, where their money isn’t at risk from market fluctuations. The study examined 2014 data from 2.9 million health savings accounts with $5 billion in assets, covering about 20 percent of the HSA market.
People with investment accounts didn’t refrain from using their HSA for medical expenses, however. Average annual distributions for medical claims were $1,777 for HSAs with investments and $1,293 for those without.
Credit to Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News (KHN), a nonprofit national health policy news service. Click here for full story.
