New Alegeus Research Debunks Common Misconceptions About Health Savings Accounts

Las Vegas, NV — October 29, 2019 — Alegeus, the market leader in consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) solutions, today from the 2019 HLTH Conference, unveiled part two of its research series on health savings account (HSA) participants, the 2019 Alegeus HSA Participant Profile. This report uses participant data to debunk four common misconceptions that consumers have about HSAs.

The premise of healthcare consumerism is that, if given more financial responsibility for healthcare and empowered to make more informed decisions, consumers will make better choices that lead to improved health outcomes and decreased overall healthcare costs. Part one of this research report found HSA participants to be America’s savviest healthcare consumers, and part two uses the same data to debunk common misconceptions that include:

  • HSA-qualified health plans are only for the healthy and wealthy: HSAs support a diverse group of participants who have middle-class incomes ($72.4k is the average household income), families (52 percent have children), and even chronic conditions (10 percent consider themselves to be unhealthy).
  • HSAs lead consumers to avoid seeking care: Most HSA participants (80 percent) claim to make healthy lifestyle choices and smart healthcare decisions. In fact, only four percent of HSA participants say they avoid care.
  • HSAs are for short-term expenses, not long-term/retirement savings: Many consumers don’t realize that HSAs are more flexible and offer greater tax benefits than a 401(k). An optimized healthcare savings strategy will include both a 401(k) and an HSA.
  • Saving and investing in an HSA is not a top priority for account holders: Today, only 13 percent of participants say they invest their HSA dollars for growth; however, their balances are growing and nearly 60 percent say they may start investing soon. These are signs that HSA participants are beginning to understand the importance of saving for the future.

“Health savings accounts are the foundation for Americans to get better value for their healthcare dollars,” said Steven Auerbach, Alegeus CEO. “That is why, earlier this year, we unveiled the industry’s first Smart Account that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to meet consumers where they are – guiding them to save for the future and ultimately unlock the full tax advantages these accounts offer.”

To learn more, click here to download the full report.

About Alegeus

With more than 25 years of growth and innovation, Alegeus is the market leader in SaaS-based healthcare payment solutions. Our highly flexible, white-label platform powers account-based benefit programs such as HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, COBRA, wellness incentives, lifestyle benefits and beyond. We deliver exceptional user experiences and differentiated capabilities that help our partners strengthen their product offerings, operate more efficiently, and unlock their full growth potential. Our partnerships with the industry’s leading health plans, third-party administrators, financial services and benefit solution providers give Alegeus unparalleled reach in the market. And our unique partnership model empowers our clients to achieve outsized results – growing their programs at a rate that is 2-3X the market, and with the highest net promoter scores (NPS) in the industry. We never compete with our clients – we win when they win. Alegeus is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., with operations centers in Orlando and Bangalore, and a large remote workforce.

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