April 05, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Health savings accounts

Health savings accounts allow employees to set aside money on a tax-free basis to pay for future medical expenses.

Percent of workers with access to health savings accounts by size of establishment and geographic area, 2006
[Chart data—TXT]

Health savings accounts must be used in conjunction with employer-provided, high-deductible health plans with an annual maximum limit on out-of-pocket and deductible expenses. Other features of health savings accounts include the rollover of unused contributions, the portability of accounts, and tax-free interest.

The chart shows that, in 2006, 9 percent of employees who worked in establishments with 100 or more employees had access to health savings accounts, while 3 percent of employees who worked in establishments with 1 to 99 workers had access to such accounts.

It also shows that 6 percent of workers who worked in metropolitan areas had access to health savings accounts and that 4 percent of workers in nonmetropolitan areas had access to such accounts.

These data are from the BLS National Compensation Survey program. Learn more in "Pretax Benefits: Access to Section 125 Cafeteria Benefits and Health Savings Accounts in the United States, Private Industry," in the March 2007 issue of Compensation and Working Conditions Online.

Related TED article:

Of interest

Spotlight on Statistics: The Recession of 2007–2009

The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, though many of the statistics that describe the U.S. economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. In this Spotlight, we present BLS data that compare the recent recession to previous recessions. Read more »