NEW YORK—The Internal Revenue Service has released the 2011 limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), to which HSAs must be linked. The amounts for 2011 are unchanged from 2010.

In Revenue Procedure 2010-22, issued on May 24, 2010, the IRS provides the inflation-adjusted HSA contribution and HDHP minimum deductible and out-of-pocket limits for 2011. Under the cost-of-living adjustment and rounding rules of Internal Revenue Code section 223, the 2011 amounts are unchanged from the amounts for 2010. The 2011 amounts are shown below.

As of January 2010, about 10 million people were enrolled in HSA/HDHP products, a 25 percent increase since January 2009, according to research by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a trade group.

HSAs were authorized starting in January 2004. Since then, AHIP has conducted a periodic census of health plans participating in the HSA/HDHP market. “HSA plans continue to be an important coverage option for businesses across the country,” said Karen Ignagni, the group's president and CEO.

Some key findings from AHIP's 2010 survey include:
  • Between January 2009 and January 2010, the fastest growing market for HSA/HDHP products was large-group coverage, which rose by 33 percent, followed by small-group coverage, which grew by 22 percent.
  • 30 percent of individuals covered by an HSA plan were in the small group market, 50 percent were in the large-group market, and the remaining 20 percent were in the individual market.
  • States with the highest levels of HSA/HDHP enrollment were California, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Illinois
    and Minnesota.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management