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December 2004
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HSA Market News December 2004; Volume 1, Number 3
SPECIAL REPORT: Debit Card Providers...Debit card competition grows...Evolution Benefits, MBI, Motivano, Exante, DataPath...To embed or aggregate?...Medical Mutual learns lessons...Aetna deductibles embedded...BCBS-NC urges balance billing...Colby heads up United BeneFund...BCBS-SC eyes 3000 HSA lives...Blue Shield-CA offers HSA plans...PacifiCare to launch HSA plans...HealthAmerica has HSA plans...Trustmark sees HSA gains...United buys Destiny...BCBS-MA to offer HSA in 2005...Hanway bullish on CDHPs...WageWorks buys FlexBen...Performax to administer HSAs...Sterling preferred by 2 assns....HAP taps Mellon, Lumenos...WellChoice uses Mellon as trustee...Principal adds HSA mutual funds...Broker seeks change in HSA pay...Bush touts HSAs...GPA goes full-replacement...Insurance cycle and CDHPs...and more...
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DEBIT CARD COMPETITION GETS WILD
Providers of debit cards for tax-advantage spending accounts, including industry leaders Med-i-Bank (MBI), Evolution Benefits and Motivano, face a fierce competitive battle in the burgeoning market for HSA swipe cards.
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TO EMBED OR AGGREGATE DEDUCTIBLES?
Managed care organizations are learning about a quirk in the federal rules for HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans, which require that family deductibles be aggregated unless the embedded individual deductible is at least equal to the minimum family deductible ($2000 in 2004).
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MEDICAL MUTUAL-OH LEARNS HSA LESSONS
“We’ve skinned our knees a little bit as the year went on,” said Aaron Graham, product manager of Medical Mutual of Ohio (Cleveland), in discussing the company’s early efforts at marketing HSA-compatible health plans.
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WAGEWORKS ACQUIRES FLEXBEN
WageWorks (San Mateo, CA) continued to expand its presence in the consumer-directed healthcare market, announcing the acquisition of privately held FlexBen (Detroit), a third-party employee benefits administration firm.
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AETNA CA HSA PLANS HAVE EMBEDDED DEDUCTIBLES
Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) has begun offering three new HSA-compatible health plans to small groups (two to 50 employees) in California, with embedded deductibles for family coverage.
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BCBS-NC MAKES CLEAR: BALANCE BILL AFTER REPRICING
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) has announced plans to launch a high-deductible health plan for employer groups on Jan. 1, 2005, with Mellon Financial Corp. handling HSA administration.
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COLBY HEADS UP UNITED BENEFUND
Ronald Colby, who was replaced earlier this year as chief executive of UnitedHealth Group’s specialized services unit, has resurfaced as the point man for BeneFund, a new concept launched by UnitedHealth (Minnetonka, MN) in Utah and Colorado for self-insured employers.
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BCBS-SC EYES 3000 HSA LIVES IN 2005; SEES COST SHIFT
Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) expects to have about 3000 lives enrolled in HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans as of Jan. 1, 2005, according to Tom Faulds, president of the company’s Blue Cross division.
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BLUE SHIELD-CA LIFE OFFERS HSA PLANS
Blue Shield of California Life & Health Insurance Co. (San Francisco) has launched two HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans for small and mid-sized groups, the company announced.
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PACIFICARE TO LAUNCH HSA PLANS IN 2005
PacifiCare Health Systems (Cypress, CA) will launch individual and large group HSA-compatible health plans in April 2005 and small group plans in February, according to a new web site from America’s Health Insurance Plans (Washington).
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TRUSTMARK SEES HSA PLAN GAINS
Trustmark Insurance Co. (Lake Forest, IL) has about 2000 small group lives in HSA-compatible health plans representing $3 million in annual premiums, according to Tom Luddy, assistant vice president of sales at the company’s Starmark division.
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BCBS-MA TO OFFER HSA PLAN IN ‘05; TAPS WELLS FARGO
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (Boston) will introduce HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans in 2005, using Wells Fargo as preferred HSA Trustee, according to Tim O’Brien, senior vice president of sales.
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WELLCHOICE TO USE MELLON AS HSA TRUSTEE
WellChoice Inc. (New York), which will begin offering HSA-compatible health plans to groups with 51 or more employees, will use Mellon Financial Corp. (Ridgefield Park, NJ) as its preferred HSA trustee and administrator.
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PERFORMAX ADDS HSA ADMINISTRATION
Performax (Baltimore), an administrator of self-insured employer health benefits, will also administer HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans for self-insured clients, the company announced. Performax hasn’t yet named an HSA trustee, a spokeswoman said.
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STERLING IS PREFERRED HSA ADMINISTRATOR AT 2 ASSNS.
Sterling HSA (Lafayette, CA), co-founded in February by former Health Net executives Cora Tellez and Michael Woodard, will be the preferred administrator for enrollees in HSA-compatible health plans offered through the California Dental Assn. and the California Bankers Assn.
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SMALL BROKER SAYS HSA COMPENSATION MUST CHANGE
Sam Bennett, a partner in the four-person insurance brokerage firm of Harrison Agency (Columbia, MO), told HMN that he is actively selling HSA-compatible health plans to individuals because he believes in the concept.
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GPA GOES TO HSA PLAN AS FULL-REPLACEMENT
Group & Pension Administrators (Richardson, TX), a third-party administrator of 50,000 self-insured lives, has enrolled its own 170 employees in an HSA-compatible high-deductible health plan as a total replacement product effective Jan. 1, 2005.
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CDHPs MAY NEAR 50% OF MARKET BY ’07, HANWAY SAYS
Nearly 50% of the 180 million covered lives in the U.S. could be in a consumer-directed health plan by 2007, compared to just 3% today, according to Edward Hanway, chairman of Cigna Corp. (Philadelphia).
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