New Alegeus Research Demonstrates Health Savings Account Participants Are Healthcare’s Savviest Consumers

Alegeus, the market leader in consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) solutions, today announced part one of its two-part research series on health savings account (HSA) participants, the 2018 Alegeus HSA Participant Profile, which provides unique insight into account holder demographics, fluency and behaviors. The report was commissioned to better understand how HSA participants use their accounts and, more broadly, how they engage in their healthcare compared to the general population.

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. Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) and HSAs are a centerpiece of healthcare consumerism strategies, and the good news is that they seem to deliver on their promise. According to the Alegeus research, HSA participants are:

• More fluent in health and financial concepts than their peers. HSA participants are 38 percent more confident they understand their health insurance coverage and 54 percent more confident in forecasting out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
• More focused on cost and value than their peers. HSA participants are 23 percent more likely to make cost/value-based decisions than the general population.
• Savvier spenders than their peers. HSA participants do more pre-purchase diligence; they are 46 percent more likely to research and compare costs and 37 percent more likely to seek out alternatives.
• More disciplined about saving than their peers. HSA participants are 68 percent more likely to have a savings goal and 80 percent more likely to be saving aggressively for future healthcare savings.

Despite these positive characteristics, most HSA participants still don’t get the full value from their accounts. Only 11 percent capitalize on the full tax benefit by contributing up to the maximum amount allowed by the IRS, and only 13 percent have invested their HSA savings for growth. Given the magnitude of healthcare costs consumers will face this year and into retirement, most HSA participants still underfund their accounts.

As consumer financial responsibilities for healthcare continue to grow, HSAs are the foundation for Americans to get better value for their healthcare dollars,” said Steven Auerbach, Alegeus CEO. “We are pleased to see HSA participants exhibit savvier spending and saving behavior. As an industry, we must continue to emphasize the importance of saving for the future and empower HSA participants to unlock the full tax advantages these accounts offer.

Learn more about Alegeus research:

• Download the full research report, Part one: The 2018 Alegeus HSA Participant Profile
• Register to view the Alegeus webinar, The 2018 HSA Participant Profile: Unique insights into the demographics, knowledge, and behavior of empowered HSA participants

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.