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A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Health Savings Accounts )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa/ )〕 The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. Unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), HSA funds roll over and accumulate year to year if not spent. HSAs are owned by the individual, which differentiates them from company-owned Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) that are an alternate tax-deductible source of funds paired with either HDHPs or standard health plans. HSA funds may currently be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability or penalty. Beginning in early 2011 OTC (over the counter) medications cannot be paid with HSA dollars without a doctor's prescription. Withdrawals for non-medical expenses are treated very similarly to those in an individual retirement account (IRA) in that they may provide tax advantages if taken after retirement age, and they incur penalties if taken earlier. These accounts are a component of consumer-driven health care. Proponents of HSAs believe that they are an important reform that will help reduce the growth of health care costs and increase the efficiency of the health care system. According to proponents, HSAs encourage saving for future health care expenses, allow the patient to receive needed care without a gatekeeper to determine what benefits are allowed, and make consumers more responsible for their own health care choices through the required High-Deductible Health Plan.〔 Opponents of HSAs say they may worsen, rather than improve, the U.S. health system's problems because people may hold back the healthcare spending that would be covered by their Health Savings Accounts, or may spend it unnecessarily just because it has accumulated and to avoid the penalty taxes for withdrawing it, while people who have health problems that have predictable annual costs will avoid HSAs in order to have those costs paid by insurance. There is also debate about consumer satisfaction with these plans. ==History== HSAs were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003. They were developed to replace the medical savings account system. A survey of employers published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in September 2008 found that 8% of covered workers were enrolled in a consumer-driven health plan (including both HSAs and Health Reimbursement Accounts), up from 4% in 2006. The study found that roughly 10 percent of firms offered such plans to their workers. Large firms were more likely to offer a high-deductible plan (18%), but enrollment was higher in small firms (8% of covered workers, versus 4% in larger firms). As of 2012, these numbers had increased. Approximately 31% of firms offering health insurance offered an HSA (26%) or an HRA (5%) option. Large firms (38%) were somewhat more likely than small (31%) firms to offer such options. 11% of covered workers were in HSAs, while 8% were in HRAs. In small companies, 24% were in HDHPs vs 17% in larger firms. A survey of health insurers performed by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) found that 4.5 million Americans were covered by HSA-qualified health plans as of January 2007. Of those, 3.4 million were covered through employer-sponsored plans, and 1.1 million were covered by individually purchased HSA-qualified plans. This represented an increase of 1.3 million since January 2006. In the individual market, 25% of new purchasers bought HSA-qualified plans. HSA-qualified plans represented 17% of new policies sold in the small group market and 8% of new policies sold in the large group market.〔Hannah Yoo, (January 2007 Census Shows 4.5 Million People Covered by HSA/High-Deductible Health Plans ), AHIP, April 2007〕 A follow-up survey by AHIP reported that the number of Americans covered by HSA-qualified plans had grown to 6.1 million as of January 2008 (4.6 million through employer-sponsored plans and 1.5 million covered by individually purchased HSA-qualified plans). HSA-qualified plans represented 27% of new purchases in the individual market, 31% of new enrollment in the small group market and 6% of new enrollment in the large group market.〔Hannah Yoo, (January 2008 Census Shows 6.1 Million People Covered by HSA/High-deductible Health Plans ), America's Health Insurance Plans, April 2008〕 In January 2008, market research firm Celent moderated its earlier projections, citing the HSA market's "disappointing early showing", and projected 12.5 million accounts by 2012.〔(Press Release for Report Entitled "HSAs: Moving Beyond the Growing Pains," ) Celent, January 7, 2008〕 A survey published by AHIP in May 2009 found that 8 million people were covered by HSA/High-Deductible health plans in January 2009. Of those, 1.8 million were covered by individual policies and approximately 6.2 million were covered by a group plan.〔Hannah Yoo, (January 2009 Census Shows 8 Million People Covered by HSA/High-deductible Health Plans ), America's Health Insurance Plans, May 2009〕 The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in April 2008 that many individuals enrolled in HSA-qualified health plans did not open tax-qualified HSA accounts, and individuals that had HSA accounts had higher incomes than others. According to the report, nationally representative surveys conducted by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in 2005 to 2007 found that 42 to 49 percent of HSA-eligible plan enrollees did not open HSAs in those years. Based on an examination of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, GAO found that tax filers who reported HSA account activity had higher average incomes than other tax filers. Contributions into HSA accounts ($754 million in 2005) were roughly double withdrawals from the accounts ($366 million). Average contributions were also roughly twice average withdrawals ($2,100 versus $1,000). 41% of tax filers who made an HSA contribution did not make any withdrawals; 22% withdrew more than they contributed during the year.〔John E. Dicken, Director, Health Care, U.S. Government Accountability Office, ("Health Savings Accounts: Participation Increased and Was More Common among Individuals with Higher Incomes," ) Letter to Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Pete Stark, Chairman of House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health Committee on Ways and Means, dated April 1, 2008〕 Data released in 2012 indicate that the use of HSAs is increasing. AHIP reported in May 2012 that the number of people covered by an HSA-eligible HDHP more than doubled between January 2008 to January 2012 (going from 6.1 million to 13.5 million).〔Center for Policy Research, America's Health Insurance Plans, http://www.ahip.org/HSA2012/〕 The split between group and individual plans was 11 million vs. 2.5 million, and the gender distribution of HSAs between male and female enrollees was an even 50%. Among individual plan holders, 51% were under age 40, and 49% were age 40 or over. The top five states with HSA/HDHP enrollment were California (1 million), Texas (0.76 million), Illinois (0.72 million), Ohio (0.66 million), and Florida (0.54 million). Also, a survey released in February 2012 by J. P. Morgan Chase of the 900,000 HSAs that it manages indicates that contributions to HSAs have been steadily increasing.〔J. P. Morgan Chase, http://www.jpmorgan.com/visit/hsasnapshot〕 Between 2009 and 2011, the average Chase HSA balance rose by 11% annually, and the average employee contributions increased by 7% in 2011. Also, in 2011, 42% more dollars were transferred from HSA cash into HSA investment accounts than were transferred out. According to 2015 midyear research conducted by Devenir, an estimated $28.4 billion is held in HSA accounts amongst 14.5 million HSA accounts.〔(), http://www.devenir.com/research/2015-midyear-devenir-hsa-research-report/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Health savings account」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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