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December 2005
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HSA Market News December 2005; Volume 2, Number 11
BCBS-MN says utilization varies...MCOs favor Flex HSAs Act...HSA Bank taps Metavante...HSAs lag in NY, CA, study says...Chart: BCBS-MN utilization...BCBS-AR offers vanguard funds...Are plans ready for CDHC?...Paychex offers HSAs...First HSA taps Metavante...Study questions HSAs...Chart: HSA OOP costs...Chart: HSA members skip care...Chart: HSA access issues...and more...
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BCBS-MN FINDS HSA, HRA UTILIZATION VARIES
In a study of nearly 82,000 consumer-directed health plan members, Blue Cross Blue of Minnesota (St. Paul, MN) found that HSA plan members are healthier and have much lower utilization of healthcare services than HRA plan members.
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MCOs, EMPLOYERS FAVOR FLEX HSAs ACT
A group of employers and health plans said they supported federal legislation introduced this month that would allow HSA contributions up to the statutory limit regardless of health plan deductibles.
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AT PRESSTIME: HSA BANK TAPS METAVANTE
As HMN went to press, HSA Bank (Waterbury, CT), the nation’s largest health savings account custodian, announced that it will utilize debit cards and related transaction technology from Metavante. Additional details will appear in the next issue of HMN.
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HSAs LAG IN NY, CA, STUDY SAYS
Ongoing research from the University of Minnesota shows that adoption of HSA plans among employees who are offered high-deductible plans as an option in Arizona, California, Indiana, New York and New England was less than 5%, compared to greater than 5% uptake in all other states.
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PAYCHEX OFFERS HSAs THROUGH MELLON
Paychex (Rochester, NY), which provides payroll and human resources services, announced that it would offer HSAs to its small business payroll clients, with Mellon Financial Corp. acting as preferred trustee. Affiliated Computer Services will provide account administration and customer service for the Paychex HSA product.
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LEESPORT, FIRST HSA TAP METAVANTE
Metavante Corp. (Milwaukee) will provide HSA debit card fulfillment and transaction processing to Leesport Bank (Wyomissing, PA), which is the preferred custodian for health savings accounts administered by First HSA (Reading, PA).
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BCBS-AR OFFERS VANGUARD FUNDS TO HSA HOLDERS
Blue Cross Blue of Arkansas (Little Rock, AR) is making available to HSA plan members 20 mutual funds from Vanguard Group (Valley Forge, PA) through an arrangement with Health Savings Administrators (Richmond, VA).
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ARE MCOs EQUIPPED FOR CONSUMER-DIRECTED CARE?
Many health plans may be ill prepared to provide members, employers and providers with the type of in-depth and timely information needed to make consumer-directed healthcare really work, according to David Nace, M.D., chief medical officer of the clinical auditing and compliance division of McKesson Health Solutions (San Francisco). The big question, he noted, is whether the payment platforms can support multiple employee accounts, spending tiers, and pre- and post-tax contributions.
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