Sept. 14, 2005
Health Affairs
(Web Exclusive)
Gary Claxton, Jon R. Gabel, Isadora Gil, Jeremy D. Pickreign, Heidi H. Whitmore, Benjamin Finder, Shada Rouhani, Samantha Hawkins, Diane Rowland
This paper documents the availability, enrollment, premiums, and cost sharing for high-deductible health plans that are offered with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or are health savings account (HSA)-qualified plans. Almost 4 percent of employers that offer health benefits offer one of these arrangements in 2005, covering about 2.4 million workers. Deductibles, as expected, are relatively high, averaging $1,870 for single coverage and $3,686 for family coverage in high-deductible health plans with an HRA and $1,901 for single coverage and $4,070 for family coverage in HSA-qualified high-deductible health plans. One in three employers offering a high-deductible health plan that is HSA-qualified do not contribute to HSAs established by their workers.
Free access to this article is available at the Health
Affairs Web site.