İşverenler, tıpkı 401(k)s gibi HSA'larda otomatik olarak çalışan işçilerdir

Employers are auto-enrolling workers in HSAs — just like 401(k)s

Kerry Hannon · Senior Columnist

Wed, September 23, 2026 at 12:54 PM GMT+3 5 min read

Employers are putting some muscle behind health savings accounts, similar to their push to enroll more workers in 401(k) plans.

Last year, nearly half of employers automatically enrolled eligible workers into an HSA, according to a recent report by the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA), a nonprofit group representing employers.

That's up from 3 in 10 in 2019.

"Employers are taking the wheel," Ann Brisk, senior managing director at HSA Bank, which administers health savings accounts, told Yahoo Finance. "They're catching on that the only way to really give people the advantage of these accounts is to get them to open them without thinking about it."

Auto-enroll in HSA vs. 401(k)

Roughly 6 in 10 employers now automatically enroll employees in the office 401(k) plan, according to Vanguard's "How America Saves 2026"report.

Unlike a 401(k), which is generally funded with employee contributions and employer matches, most of the money in the HSA accounts at these workplaces is coming from the employers, said Brisk.

"If left up to our own devices, generally, we won't open an account," she said. "Only about half of employees put any of their own money into these accounts initially because they can't always afford to, and they may not choose to."

About a third of employers that auto-enroll workers contribute between $500 and $1,000 per worker to the accounts, while 3 in 10 contributed $1,350 or more and roughly a quarter set aside $500 or less in their employees' HSAs, per the report.

The funds are deposited into a cash account within the HSA. Workers can use the money for medical costs or invest it. Similar to the 401(k), an increasing number of employers now also match a worker's own HSA contribution, said Brisk.

How it works

The allure of an HSA is its triple tax advantage. You put money in on a tax-free basis, it builds up tax-free, and comes out tax-free for qualified healthcare expenses. (One drawback: Some states assess state taxes.)

In order to put money into an HSA, you must be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. In those plans, you pay a lower premium per month than other types of health insurance plans, but a higher annual deductible (the amount you pay for covered medical costs before insurance kicks in).

For 2026, the minimum deductible is $1,700 for individual coverage and $3,400 for family coverage. You can also open an HSA as a self-employed freelancer or business owner if you have a qualified high-deductible health plan. Your contributions roll over year after year and are yours to take along when you retire or change employers.

The 2026 contribution limit for an HSA is $4,400 for individuals and $8,750 for families. Individuals 55 or older can contribute an additional $1,000.

Nearly 62 million Americans are currently covered by an HSA, according to HSA advisory firm Devenir.

Millennials held the largest portion of HSAs with 42%, according to Devenir's findings. Folks over 55 have the largest balances — $7,178 on average. Across all age groups, the average balance was $5,336.

That said, the number of accounts holding $10,000 or more has soared over the past decade, from roughly 599,000 at the end of 2015 to 4.1 million at the end of 2025, according to Devenir, and 1.7 million accounts held more than $25,000.

"The uptick in automatic enrollment is a positive trend," said Jon Robb, a senior vice president at Devenir. "Health insurance can already be complicated for employees, and automatic HSA enrollment can help them connect the dots between choosing an HSA-qualified health plan and actually opening the account that goes with it."

Piggy bank vs. investment account

Here's the hitch: Most people miss out on the power of an HSA as a retirement tool. To do that, you have to contribute to the account and let the money grow and compound, rather than spend it on immediate healthcare expenses.

More than two-thirds of organizations offer investment options for HSA contributions. The percentage of participants investing remains low, with only about 2 in 10 people investing last year, according to PSCA.

"Once people invest, though, they tend to stay invested," Brisk added. "It's very sticky, and their accounts continue to grow. That's where the lightbulb goes off for employees once they recognize they've built up a bit of a balance."

In the real world, though, most account holders pull funds from their HSAs to cover current medical bills.

While it's still a fraction of HSA holders who invest, it's growing. "There's growing awareness of the healthcare costs people may face in retirement and the role an HSA can play in preparing for those costs," Robb said.

Holding on to your money for the future takes a mindset shift.

"The mind shift occurs when you've had this account for a few years," Brisk said. "Suddenly you have a year where things were okay healthwise, and you didn't spend as much money; you've now built up a balance and begin to think of them as a long-term retirement savings vehicle and not just an account with a debit card that you use to buy sunscreen."

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky and X.

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