Health Savings Accounts for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs: Shopping, Take-Up and Implementation Challenges

Susan M. Gates, Pinar Karaca-Mandic, James R. Burgdorf and Kanika Kapur
Additional contact information
Susan M. Gates: RAND Corporation
Pinar Karaca-Mandic: University of Minnesota and RAND Corporation
James R. Burgdorf: RAND Corporation

No 200938, Working Papers from Geary Institute, University College Dublin

Abstract: A combination of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) holds promise for expanding health insurance for small firms. We provide information on HSA take-up and shopping behavior from a 2008 survey of female small business owners, revealing that the HSA marketplace can be confusing for small firms. HSAs may have expanded access to health insurance for the smallest firms (under three employees), but not for small firms more generally. A sizable number of firms offering HSA-eligible insurance did not offer attached HSAs. Firms offering HSAs were satisfied with their experiences, but faced challenges in implementing them.

Keywords: Health Savings Accounts; Health Insurance Costs; Small Business (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2009-11-17
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ias and nep-mic
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://www.ucd.ie/geary/static/publications/workingpapers/gearywp200938.pdf First version, 2009 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Health savings accounts for small businesses and entrepreneurs: shopping, take-Up and implementation challenges (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200938

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