Spotlight HSAs Lower Use, Worse Healthcare Outcomes Room for Improvement What Is Your Healthcare System and Why Does It Matter? 37 38 44 Will HSAs Live Up to Their Potential? They offer triple tax benefits but pose investment and planning challenges. INTRO Christine Benz Health savings accounts, or HSAs, get plenty of attention in the financial media and in Washington. Given all the hubbub, it may come as a surprise that assets in HSAs aren't all that impressive: Just $37 billion was stashed in the accounts at the end of 2016, according to HSA consultancy Devenir. For a bit of perspective, that's about the size of a large mutual fund. Yet there's no denying the growth of this account type, which has mirrored the uptake of highdeductible healthcare plans in the marketplace and on employer-provided healthcare menus. More than 30% of employees are now covered by high-deductible healthcare plans and in turn are eligible to save and invest in an HSA. Assets in HSAs have risen accordingly, more than tenfold over the past decade, according to Devenir. With that growth comes an increasing recognition that HSAs can be valuable components of global.morningstar.com/Morningstarmagazine 35http://global.morningstar.com/Morningstarmagazine