An analysis of Fidelity’s 74,000 HSA accounts has revealed several interesting trends regarding contribution rates and spending behavior.
Fidelity noted three categories of spending behaviors by HSA participants:
• About a third (36%) of participants are "Spenders." They use more than 90% of their HSA contributions on qualified medical expense reimbursements, allowing little or no balance to carry over.
• Four out of 10 (40%) participants are "Hybrids," using between 10% and 90% of their HSA contributions and carrying over the rest.
• Nearly a quarter (24%) of participants are "Savers," using less than 10% of their annual contributions and investing the balances for future health expenses.
Nearly all participants (95%) carry over some balance from year to year.
Approximately one out of five (17%) participants contributed (i.e., both employee and employer contributions) more than $5,000 to their account in 2010, and nearly half (46%) had contributions of $2,500 or more. On average, Fidelity’s HSA participants contributed $2,620 to their accounts in 2010.
