HSAs reach nearly $23 billion

By Kathryn Mayer

August 06, 2014 at 01:24 PM

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Health savings accounts have grown to an estimated $22.8 billion in assets and roughly 11.8 million accounts as of the end of June, according to the latest figures from Devenir. The investment consulting firm said that's a year over year increase of 26 percent for HSA assets and 29 percent for accounts.

"Accountholders are both utilizing their HSA for current medical expenses as well as saving for future health care expenses," said Jon Robb, senior vice president of research at Devenir. "HSAs appear to be working and that's exciting."

The report is the latest indicator of growth for the health savings vehicle, which have been increasing in popularity since their inception a decade ago. In June, analysis from The Institute for HealthCare Consumerism, Consumer driven and HSA Consulting Services predicted 50 million Americans will be covered by HSA-qualified health plans by Jan. 1, 2019, and that HSA adoption will grow to 37 million.

Devenir projected that the HSA market will exceed $24 billion in HSA assets covering more than 13 million accounts by the end of 2014.

Devenir's report also found:

HSA investment assets reached an estimated $2.9 billion in June, up 45 percent year over year. The average investment account holder has a $12,473 average total balance (deposit and investment account).
Investors achieved an average annualized return of 10.6 percent on their HSA investments over the last 5 years.
In the first half of 2014, health plans were the leading driver of new account growth, accounting for 31 percent of new accounts.

Survey data was collected in July and primarily consisted of the top 100 HSA providers in the market.

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