Study finds HSAs hit 1 million.

Enrollments in high-deductible health plans bundled with tax-free health savings accounts have more than doubled in the past six months, with many enrollees coming from the ranks of the previously uninsured, according to a new survey from America's Health Insurance Plans.

As of March 2005, enrollment in HSAs surpassed 1.03 million, compared with 438,000 in September 2004, AHIP found, as the number of health insurance and health plan providers offering the accounts more than tripled from 29 to 99 over the same period.

Created by the Medicare Modernization Act, which was signed by President Bush in December 2003, health savings accounts have in one year already surpassed the peak market penetration achieved over nearly 10 years by their predecessor, the Archer Medical Savings Accounts, noted Karen Ignagni, AHIP's president and chief executive officer. Initiated in 1996, MSA haven't surpassed 250,000 in a year, Ignagni said.

"In quite an expected fashion, the first purchasers were in the individual market, and then the small business market started getting traction," Ignagni said. "Now, we're beginning to see it in the large employer market. When you get around to talk to benefits consultants, what you find out is, because the regulations were promulgated in August, that was too late for the 2005 benefit year. What I can tell you, anecdotally, is that they are asking that this be part of the menu of products that are offered to them, in addition to HMO, PPO and point-of-service"

Though still smaller than both the small-group and individual markets, the large-group market expanded by more than 1,000% to 162,000 "covered lives"--policyholders and their dependents--from just 13,000 in September 2004, noted Jeffrey Lemieux, senior vice president of AHIP's center for policy and research.

In addition, Lemieux pointed out that AHIP members reported 77,000 insureds in the "other" category and 88,000 in the "other group" category, where the member didn't distinguish either between small and large groups or between individual and group policies. Presented in concert with "Covering the Uninsured Week"--a week-long public awareness project aimed at promoting means to provide health-care solutions for millions of uninsured Americans--the study also provided support for the contention that HSAs could serve as a partial solution.