After initial skepticism, employers are beginning to embrace the idea of health savings accounts coupled with high-deductible health plans, according to a recent survey by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in Washington.
The lobbying group represents domestic and international commercial insurance brokers.
Seventy-one percent of the brokers and agents responding to the survey, which was released Monday, said they have sold high-deductible health coverage in connection with a health savings account for 2006, compared with the 65% who reported doing so in a spring survey.
The more recent survey said about two-thirds of the employers that offer high-deductible health plans do so as an option rather than to replace an existing plan.
The most common reason given for resistance to HSAs in the workplace was the complexity of the concept and the amount of education required of plan participants; 86% cited this factor. Forty-seven percent mentioned the inability of these plans to provide prescription drug coverage, and 34% said difficulty in coordinating HSAs with existing flexible spending or health reimbursement accounts made employers wary of the product.
