Despite the growing popularity of health savings accounts (HSAs), a majority of plan sponsors say they need to educate employees about their benefit, according to a survey conducted by the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA).
The study, which surveyed nearly 200 plan sponsors in early 2019, reflects 2018 plan data. It is the first of what will be an annual comprehensive benchmarking survey of HSAs.
Three-fifths of respondents (60 percent) said they needed to educate employees on the holistic benefit of allocating assets equally between an HSA and retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans.
The study found that more than half of respondents (56.6 percent) used “how to” guides to educate employees, while nearly three-fifths of respondents (59.9 percent) said they preferred to use group presentations.
Three-quarters of respondents (76.4 percent) said HSA education primarily took place at open enrollment, but only one out of five respondents said they offered HSA education multiple times throughout the year.
Edmund F. Murphy III, president and CEO of the Denver-based Empower Retirement, which sponsored the survey, said that its findings proved that employers and employees are only just beginning to understand the power of an HSA as a savings account.
“Health savings accounts can make a substantial difference in savers’ abilities to fund their expenses in retirement—especially when contributions are directed strategically,” he said in a news release.
The Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), founded in Chicago in 1947, is a non-profit trade association supporting employer-sponsored retirement plans. It is affiliated with the American Retirement Association, based in Arlington, Va.