JP Morgan Treasury Services, administrator of the JP Morgan Health Savings Account (HSA) program, has released insight into the saving, spending and investing habits of its more than 500,000 HSA accountholders.
According to the report 45% of accounts have balances over $1,000 as of December 31, 2009 compared to 35% at the end of 2008.
The percentage of accounts with balances over $2,000 increased from 20% at the end of 2008 to 31% in 2009. The average spend or distribution per HSA in 2009 was $1,305, or $109 per month, while purchases at drugstores resulted in the highest volume of transactions per account, hospitals and dental expenses had the highest average dollar amount per transaction ($212 and $194 respectively) and most investment dollars were held in equity mutual funds (52%).
The average account contribution in 2009 was $1,816.
David Josephs, managing director of JP Morgan, said: “Through the HSA snapshot, we share information on account balances, contribution and distribution activity, as well as trends in investment behavior. We also expect employers who are offering HSAs for the first time, or those who already have programs in place, to use the Snapshot as they review health plan options for the upcoming enrollment season or as a benchmark for comparison.”