HSA trends we’ve identified to help you boost participation

Health savings accounts (HSAs) have a variety of short-term and long-term perks for participants. As an employer, it can be challenging to determine how to best position these accounts since employee needs can vary. What resonates with one employee might not resonate with all. 

To maximize participation, how much should employers be contributing to HSAs? What’s the employer contribution sweet spot? In the second post in our blog series highlighting benefits trends we’ve identified, we’ll show you what we’ve learned to help you and your employees get the most from these accounts. 

Why should employers contribute to employee HSAs?

Employee benefits are integral to employee wellness. What’s more fundamental than making sure that your employees have the dollars to seek medical care? The great resignation presented many challenges but this has also presented many opportunities for employers to better support employees with their HSA. Employee benefits are one way employers can differentiate themselves by thinking about their contribution and matching strategy. 

What’s the employer contribution sweet spot?

WEX’s data set is large and comprehensive. For example, 1 in 5 of all HSAs are on the WEX platform. That means we’re uniquely positioned to help you understand the trends on how participants use their accounts, contribute, spend, and invest. 

Over 35% of employers on the WEX benefits platform contributed to their employees’ HSAs in 2021. From these contributions, we have observed some trends on our platform regarding employer contributions:

• The average employer contribution in 2021 was $941.
• For family HSAs, an employer contribution between $1,500 to $1,750 yields the highest employee contribution.
• For self-only HSAs, an employer contribution between $750 to $1,000 yields the highest employee contribution.
• Any contribution of $50 or more will encourage participation.

Participation and investment grows, but most still spend funds 

The industry saw about an 8% year-over-year growth in the number of HSAs across the industry. And the number of HSA investment assets increased 45% year-over-year. 

While participation and investment in HSAs is growing, only about 7 percent of HSA participants invest any of their funds. The vast majority of HSA participants are spenders and savers. 

Check out our episode of Benefits when we talk through these HSA trends and others we learned. 

The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice, you should consult your own counsel. 

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