Early Filers Spend Tax Refund on Deferred Healthcare, Study Finds

A JPMorgan Chase analysis of more than 1 million tax refunds points to increased spending on deferred healthcare services, especially among those who file early.

Americans with larger federal tax refunds filed earlier and increased their spending on healthcare services they had been putting off, according to a JPMorgan Chase Institute study.

The report, which analyzed the impact of tax refunds on healthcare spending, found early filers spent the largest proportion of their refund on healthcare services.

“What does this mean? It's increasingly clear that families are treating their tax refunds as a zero-interest savings vehicle, the funds of which they're using for important and sometimes crucial expenses like health care,” Diana Farrell, president and CEO of JPMorgan Chase Institute, wrote Tuesday in an op-ed for CNN Money.

Related: Tax Refunds Drive Out-Of-Pocket Healthcare Spending Spikes

“That's problematic for Americans' financial health, because the IRS does not currently give taxpayers control over the timing of their refund payments, outside of choosing when to file your annual refund between January and Tax Day in April,” Farrell added. “This means it can be challenging or unrealistic to only schedule payments or purchases around your tax refund every spring.”

Those who received a refund in February increased their healthcare spending by 38% over two months, while those who received refunds in March and April spent 22% and 11% more, respectively. For early filers, 64% of that increased healthcare spending went toward deferred healthcare services, with little going toward healthcare products for non-immediate purposes.

The new study comes three months after another JPMorgan Chase Institute report found a 60% increase in deferred healthcare spending in the week following a tax refund.