In a press release on January 11, 2005, Watson Wyatt Worldwide released the results of their survey on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). In the survey of nearly 1,000 individuals with health insurance, they found that only 29 percent have heard of HSAs, and only 33 percent of those who had heard of HSAs felt they completely or mostly understood how they worked. Ted Chien, global director of group and health care consulting at Watson Wyatt, commented that "educating employees on the risks and rewards of HSAs will be critical to their success"

Our latest website, www.myhsatoday.com, addresses this lack of knowledge by providing information to plan service providers (PSPs), employers, and employees. In addition to explaining how an HSA works, it educates the viewer on HSA benefits. PSPs will find it an invaluable tool to educate employers when marketing HSAs or to educate employees when putting HSAs into operation.

After being informed on how HSAs worked, the respondents responded favorably to certain HSA features. Sixty percent of participants think having control of HSA funds, even after they leave their current employer would be an extremely important benefit. Fifty-five percent feel lower premiums are also an important benefit.

However, 36 percent of the respondents were concerned about the "maximum out-of-pocket costs". Chien's comment on this was that "It's understandable that employees may be initially hesitant about switching to a plan with a higher deductible, but the potential of HSAs to lower costs - when combined with financial incentives to improve employee health and change health care purchasing behavior - is too powerful to ignore."