By Kaja Whitehouse A Dow Jones Newswires Column

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)—Frustrated shoppers of health savings accounts might want to consider turning to the Internet for help.

Information about HSAs, which were just created last year, has been scarce. There are, however, at least two free web sites that provide comprehensive information about the mechanics of HSAs, as well as lists of HSA service providers.

HSAInsider.com and HSAFinder.com were both launched shortly after the Medicare legislation that created HSAs was passed in late 2003. Traffic to the sites has been so strong both services are currently in the process of redesigning their sites to keep up with the demand for clear, yet abundant, information.

HSAs are basically health insurance vehicles that come in two parts: a high-deductible health insurance policy and a tax-sheltered savings account. The reason people may want a high deductible - or the amount the insured pays before the insurance company begins picking up the tab - is that it can lower monthly premiums because it passes the bulk of the risk to the insured. The savings component allows people to build the funds they will need to pay off the deductible in a tax-sheltered account.

The reason HSA web sites are seeing so much demand is that HSAs are complex instruments. Interested consumers, who may be either individuals or employers, need to unravel a rather complicated array of facts and computations before they can open one. For example, consumers need to understand the myriad of federal rules and regulations that govern these accounts, including the various contribution caps and qualifying medical expenses. Consumers also have to shop for the right HSA provider, which means wading through a slew of banks, insurance companies and brokerage firms, all of which offer differing fees, investment options and interest rates.

Valerie Nestrick, a veterinarian in Lomita, Calif., was nearly turned off from buying an HSA because of a lack of solid information offered by the financial firms she turned to for help. When she started looking for an HSA last year, she couldn't get any information from her bank. Her financial advisor also proved to be of little help. Nestrick finally turned to a bank recommended by a friend, but was once again thwarted because the bank's employees knew nothing about this new form of saving for medical expenses. After some prodding, she got a hold of a phone number for the bank's HSA service center. There she discovered her high-deductible insurance plan might not qualify for an HSA savings account.

"It's been very frustrating," Nestrick said. "When George Bush talks about this, it sounds like you can put your money in any old account and with any old deductible. But you have to have a special health plan to do this and a special bank account, and you don't go to the same place to get them."

HSA web sites like HSAInsider or HSAFinder can help consumers answer basic questions about what they can and cannot do with an HSA. They can also help people comparison shop.

HSAInsider provides information about more than 85 insurers and roughly 65 account providers. HSAFinder collects information from more than 30 insurers and more than 75 account providers. Insurers will sell both the high-deductible plan and the tax-sheltered savings account to go with it, but some insurers only provide the insurance coverage and not the savings account. Account providers, generally banks and other custodians, sell HSA savings accounts to people who already have high-deductible insurance plans.

Neither site sells HSAs or partners with firms that do.

The abundance of data about HSAs can be overwhelming, which is why both sites are in the process of simplifying their search services. To find account providers, for example, users of both sites currently have to scroll through long alphabetical lists.

HSAFinder, meanwhile, is working on providing users information about account providers based on their state. So someone from Kentucky who goes to the site can search for insurers and account providers in that state, as well as find news and updates about HSAs relevant to that state.

One downside of the sites is information about service providers is often provided by the service providers themselves, which can lead to blank spots in the data. Certain account providers, for example, are very clear about the fees and investment options they offer for their savings accounts. Others, however, are less open, leaving interested consumers with either no information or advertising where information about fees and interest rates should be.

HSA providers are becoming "more honest" about the services they provide and at what cost, said Don Mazzella, editorial director at HSAFinder.com. Why? Well, Mazzella attributes it to the increase in competition for HSA dollars as well as the aggressiveness of HSA consumers for information about things like fees.

If HSA providers publish wrong or outdated information customers will call to complain, he said "We're on the phone all the time," he said.