Employer contributions to participants’ health savings accounts, as well as individual contributions to these accounts increased from 2006 to 2008, reports the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Health savings accounts became available in 2004, following the introduction of health reimbursement arrangements in 2001. When combined with a high-deductible health insurance plan, HSAs and HRAs form what are often called consumer-driven health plans. Employers of all sizes are increasingly focused on how to achieve high-value health care, and are examining a number of different approaches—including consumer-driven plans—that use cost-sharing incentives to engage their workers in health decisions, according to Paul Fronstin, EBRI spokesperson.

The EBRI study finds that after falling between 2006 and 2007, the percentage of workers with an employer contribution increased from 61 percent in 2007 to 66 percent in 2008. Among workers with an employer contribution, those with employee-only coverage have seen their annual employer contributions increase. From 2006 and 2008 the percentage reporting that their employer contributed $1,000 or more to the account increased from 26 percent to 37 percent. Among workers with family coverage, the percentage reporting a contribution of $200–$499 decreased from 11 percent to 6 percent between 2006 and 2008, while the percentage reporting contributions of $500–$749 increased from 4 percent to 10 percent between 2007 and 2008. A majority of workers with family coverage receive a contribution of $1,000 or more, EBRI says.