Employers are adopting automatic enrollment strategies for health savings accounts, borrowing tactics from their 401(k) retirement plan programs. HSAs offer three-pronged tax advantages: contributions reduce taxable income, investments grow tax-free, and qualified medical withdrawals are tax-exempt. This shift reflects employers’ efforts to increase HSA participation among their workforce.
According to research from the Plan Sponsor Council of America, nearly 46% of employers automatically enrolled workers into HSAs in 2025 if those employees selected high-deductible health plans, representing significant growth from 32% in 2019. The automatic enrollment approach aims to reduce friction by eliminating the need for workers to voluntarily opt in. The strategy has proven effective in retirement plans, with approximately 64% of employers auto-enrolling workers into 401(k) plans in 2025, partly due to requirements under the Secure 2.0 federal retirement law passed in 2022.
Unlike traditional 401(k) auto-enrollment, which typically deducts a percentage of each paycheck, HSA auto-enrollment typically involves employers seeding accounts with a lump-sum contribution. About 77% of employers provided HSA contributions in 2025. Among those making contributions, approximately 32% contributed between $500 and $1,000 per worker, while 29% contributed $1,350 or more. These employer contributions are placed in liquid cash-like accounts rather than investments, though employees can typically move funds into investments once balances exceed provider-set thresholds.
Employers are also implementing 401(k)-style matching provisions for HSAs, where employees must contribute to receive employer funds. Roughly 10% of employers offering HSA contributions match employee contributions, with another 7.5% considering this approach. The broader trend reflects rising healthcare costs and employers’ recognition that supporting workers with health expense management is increasingly important. High-deductible plans have become more prevalent among employers offering benefits, with 31% offering such plans paired with HSAs in 2025, compared to 4% in 2005.
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