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March 2005
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HSA Market News March 2005, Volume 2, Number 3
18 top MCOs have 432,000 lives...First Horizon acquires MSAver...First Data pilots eligibility check...Chart: MCO HSA, HRA lives...Cigna expands HSA offerings...BCBS-NC adds individual HSA...BCBS-IL expands HSA plans...In brief: Humana; BCBS-MN...Group Health eyes HSAs...ACMI launches HSAs in Illinois...PacifiCare to name bank partner...IBX picks HealthGrades for data...Mid-America offers HSAs...M-Care taps Mellon as trustee...First South offers HSAs...HSA Bank enhances web site...In brief: PacifiCare et al...HealthEquity expands team...Choice Admin picks Mellon...Future favors HSAs, Aon says...8% of employers offer HSAs...Hay sees under 10% HRA uptake...Brokers want easy HSA setup...and more...
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2 BANKS HAVE 60,000 DEBIT CARD HSAs
JPMorgan Chase (New York) and Mellon Financial Corp. (Pittsburgh, PA), two of the nation’s most active HSA trustees, are administering a total of about 60,000 HSAs with debit cards, according to HMN estimates.
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FIRST DATA PILOTS ELIGIBILITY CHECKS
First Data Corp. (Greenwood Village, CO) is piloting a program in which about 200 physicians in Atlanta can check the healthcare insurance eligibility of patients through a credit card terminal.
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FIRST HORIZON BUYS MSAVER
First Horizon National Corp. (Memphis, TN) has announced the acquisition HSA administrator MSAver Resources LLC as a springboard into the individual and small group health savings account business.
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18 TOP MCOs HAVE 432,000 HSA LIVES
As of early March, 18 leading managed care organizations had a total of 432,000 HSA lives and 1.3 million HRA lives, according to an HMN tally.
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MID-AMERICA OFFERS HSAs
Mid-America Bank (Baldwin City, KS) is offering health savings accounts with 3% interest, the company announced.
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CIGNA LAUNCHES HSA PLANS IN NY, NJ
Cigna Corp. (Philadelphia) has made its Choice Fund HSA-compatible high-deductible health plan available to groups with 51 to 200 employees in New York and New Jersey.
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BCBS-NC TO OFFER INDIVIDUAL HSA PLAN THIS FALL
As expected (HMN, December 2004), Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (Durham, NC) will begin offering an HSA product to the individual market in the fall of 2005, with coverage effective Jan. 1, 2006, according to a spokesman.
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IN BRIEF: HUMANA; BCBS-MN
Humana Inc. (Louisville, KY), which already has an individual HSA plan, is developing a product for the group market, a spokeswoman said.
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PACIFICARE TO NAME HSA BANKING PARTNER
As expected (HMN, December 2004), PacifiCare Health Systems (Cypress, CA) will launch its first HSA plans in April and also announce a partnership with a bank to act as preferred trustee, according to a spokeswoman.
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FIRST SOUTH CREDIT UNION OFFERS HSA ACCOUNTS
First South Credit Union (Cordova, TN) is offering HSA accounts with a one-time set-up fee of $39 and a monthly administrative fee of $3.50. Accounts come with a debit card; checks are an extra $15.
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HSA BANK ADDS EMPLOYER SECTION TO WEB SITE
HSA Bank (Sheboygan, WI) has added an employer section to its web site and upgraded its agent section, among other enhanced features, to accommodate the rapid growth the company is experiencing in HSA accounts.
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CHOICE ADMINISTRATORS PICKS MELLON AS HSA TRUSTEE
Choice Administrators (Orange, CA), a unit of benefit administrator Word & Brown, has chosen Mellon Financial Corp. to act as trustee for HSA plans administered by the company through its CaliforniaChoice program.
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INDEPENDENCE TAPS HEALTHGRADES FOR PROVIDER DATA
Independence Blue Cross (Philadelphia) will provide members with online access to hospital and physician quality ratings, cost comparisons for more than 100 procedures, and patient safety data through an agreement with performance measurement vendor HealthGrades Inc. (Golden, CO).
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FUTURE FAVORS HSAs OVER HRAs, AON OFFICIAL SAYS
What’s the future growth potential of HSAs versus HRAs? According to a survey prepared by Aon Consulting (Chicago) and conducted by the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (Brookfield, WI), 49% of employers planning to offer a consumer-driven health plan in the near future will choose an HSA plan.
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8% OF EMPLOYERS OFFER HSAs, STUDY SAYS
About 8% of employers are offering HSA plans as a health coverage option, with another 18% planning to offer HSAs in 2006, according to a study from Washington-based benefit consultant Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health.
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BROKERS WANT HSA SET-UP STREAMLINED, SURVEY SAYS
Brokers want a streamlined set-up process for HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans, clear educational materials, broker support, tiered incentives, higher referral fees from HSA administrators, and better Internet technology, according to a survey by California Broker Magazine, published by McGee Publishers (Burbank, CA).
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IN BRIEF: PACIFICARE; ASSURANT; JOHNSON BANK
PacifiCare Health Systems (Cypress, CA) has signed a contract extension through June 2007 for business process outsourcing services from Amisys Synertech Inc. for its HRA-compatible consumer-directed health plan, with 85,000 lives (HMN, February 2005).
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