Claritas Insurance Audit Shows Baby Boomers Are Embracing Health Savings Accounts

Press Release

Overall, Enrollment in HSAs Is Also Growing, But at a Measured Pace

SAN DIEGO, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 23, 2006 -- While less than five percent of U.S. consumers have a health savings account (HSA), Baby Boomers, by contrast, are embracing the product in comparatively high numbers. In fact, according to recent findings from the 2005 Insurance Audit™, 56 percent of householders with an HSA are between the ages of 40-60 years old.
By comparison, just under 35 percent of the respondent households with an HSA are under 40 years old. Overall, 4.4 percent of the entire survey household sample of 35,000 said they had a group HSA, but the numbers are expected to continue moving upward as HSAs are increasingly offered on a broader scale through corporate group plans.

2005 Respondent Households with HSA: Age Categories:

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The Insurance Audit survey, which is administered by Integras, Claritas' advanced analytical services division, is designed to generate a national representative sample of United States households' insurance behavior. Data includes the following insurance categories: automobile, residential, life, health and insurance attitudes.

"HSAs provide consumers an excellent way to obtain affordable health insurance and a way to save on overall medical expenses, as well as future medical expenses," said Integras Consultant Noel Schoonover. "The ability of baby boomers to begin saving now for their health expenses during retirement will also save Medicare money in the future and help ensure Medicare's future financial vitality," he added.

Other notable findings included:


-- Nearly 40 percent of households with an HSA are concerned about their
long-term care needs compared to 32.1 percent of the total households
surveyed.

-- Nearly 45 percent of households with HSAs are concerned about earning
an income if they become disabled compared to 33.1 percent of all
households surveyed.

-- Over 50 percent of households with an HSA are concerned about
outliving their retirement savings compared to 44.2 percent of the total
households surveyed.