A minimally publicized report on the income characteristics of account holders published by AHIP
The study breaks income groupings into five categories and found:
- 3 percent of account holders were in the lowest income group;
- 45 percent were in the next lower-middle income group;
- 34 percent were in the middle-income group;
- 12 percent were in the upper-middle income group; and
- 5 percent were in the upper-income group.
The report does not say what portions of the overall population fall into each group, so it is impossible to say if account holders are over- or under-represented in any of the categories. But the account activity of each group in 2008 is very interesting because the deposits and withdrawals are very much the same, even though the income levels are vastly different:
- Low Income -- $784 input, $489 outgo;
- Low Middle Income -- $958 input, $608 outgo;
- Middle Income -- $1,202 input, $742 outgo;
- Upper Middle Income -- $1,464 input, $892 outgo; and
- Upper Income -- $1,766 input, $1,051 outgo.
Anyone who says that HSAs are a "tax shelter for the rich" are sadly misinformed. Ask any hospital CFO about where the bad debt is coming from these days.
SOURCE: AHIP Research
