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The number of people enrolled in health savings accounts (HSA) has more than tripled in the last six years from 4.5 million people in January 2007 to 15.5 million in January 2013, according to America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade association that represents health insurers.

In the future, Cohen said he expects to see several options used more widely to lower costs, such as rewards for low cholesterol or keeping diabetes under control, incentives to join gyms and benefits for participating in healthy lifestyle programs.

The data also shows that businesses could save money while providing their employees with more choices, he said. Some of those choices, such as closed-network programs or single primary-care physician-based programs, have been avoided in the past because the common wisdom is that people don't like being limited by what doctors they may see.

Consumers also value account features that simplify the health care funding experience, the survey found. More than 65% ranked debit cards and multi-channel (web/mobile) account access as “extremely valuable,” while 60% said they “highly value” self-service features such as the ability to submit claims via mobile devices. Seventy-five percent of consumers said they value integration of benefit accounts and insurance claim data to streamline the process of reviewing and paying