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April 2005
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HSA Marker News April 2005; Volume 2, Number 4
SPECIAL REPORT: Leading HSA Banks...6 top banks have 287,000 HSAs...HSA Bank, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Exante Bank, Mellon, Fifth Third, U.S. Bancorp, First Horizon...Chart: Leading HSA banks...United has robust CDHP gains...Aetna has 361,000 CDHP lives...Premera HSA attracts uninsured...Nair cites disintermediation risk...Great Lakes has web HSA guide...Kaiser to launch HSAs in CA...AMCI adds low-cost options...Larson touts single HSA sign-on...MGIS adds Mellon as trustee...Mellon wins new HDHP clients...West cites need for more HDHPs...Guardian, Destiny expand...Lumenos touts transition option...IRS rules on spouses with HSAs...HSA consolidation to continue...and more
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6 TOP HSA BANKS HAVE 287,000 ACCOUNTS
Six leading banks offering HSAs— Exante, Fifth Third, HSA Bank, JPMorgan, Mellon, and Wells Fargo—have a total of 287,000 accounts, according to a HMN tally.
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UNITEDHEALTH ENJOYS ROBUST CDHP GAINS
UnitedHealth Group (Minnetonka, MN) continued to enjoy robust gains in its various consumer-driven health plan offerings, according to William McGuire, M.D., chairman.
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AETNA HEALTHFUND HAS 361,000 LIVES
Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) had 361,000 members in its HSA and HRA-compatible HealthFund consumer-directed health plan as of March 31, the company said. As of year-end 2004, Aetna had 222,000 HealthFund lives. The company expects to have more than 800,000 consumer-directed lives by the end of the year (MHMR, February 2005).
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PREMERA ATTRACTS UNINSURED WITH HSAs
Premera (Mountlake Terrace, WA) said that 58% of new individual members at its LifeWise Health Plan of Washington affiliate in the first quarter of 2005 were uninsured for at least two months when they signed up for one of the company’s HSA-compatible or non-compatible high-deductible health plans.
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HEALTHCARE RIPE FOR DISINTERMEDIATION, NAIR SAID
The healthcare industry is ripe for disintermediation, in part because of the disjointed nature of the industry, said Mohan Nair, chief marketing officer, The Regence Group (Portland, OR), in his keynote presentation to the Managed Healthcare Industry Forum on Emerging Technology in New York, April 22.
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1 SIGN-ON KEY TO HSA, PLAN INTEGRATION, LARSON SAID
“The most important thing to me is the single sign-on,” said Herb Larsen, vice president of payer sales, Exante Financial Services, a unit of UnitedHealth Group (Minnetonka, MN), in discussing the company’s HSA integration with United’s consumer-driven healthcare products.
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MGIS ADDS MELLON AS 2ND HSA TRUSTEE OPTION
Third-party administrator Medical Group Insurance Services Inc. (Salt Lake City) has chosen Mellon Financial Corp. (Ridgefield Park, NJ) as one of two HSA trustee options for clients who wish to offer high-deductible health plans coupled with health savings accounts.
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MELLON TAPPED BY NGS, CALCPA, INDEPENDENT
NGS American (St. Clair Shores, MI), a third-party administrator serving 350,000 lives, will use Mellon Financial Corp. (Ridgefield Park, NJ) for HSA trustee services.
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GREAT LAKES ONLINE GUIDE LISTS 118 HSA BANKS
Great Lakes HSA (Cleveland), an HSA administrator and insurance broker, has enhanced its web site (www.greatlakeshsa.com) with a nationwide listing of 118 banks that offer HSAs in 37 states.
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GUARDIAN, DESTINY OFFER HSA PLANS IN IL, VA, MD, DC
As expected (HMN, September 2004), Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America (New York) and Destiny Health (Oak Brook, IL) have expanded their joint consumer-directed health plan offering—which includes HSA and HRA options—into Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland.
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KAISER TO ROLL OUT HSA PLANS IN CA IN 2006
Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, CA) confirmed that it will roll out HSA-compatible high-deductible health plans in California in 2006. Kaiser, which uses Wells Fargo Bank as its HSA trustee, is already offering the product in Colorado and Georgia and will add the northwest and other markets this year. Wells Fargo will provide Kaiser’s members with a debit card, customer service, and a variety of money market and mutual fund options.
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HSAs ARE O.K. EVEN WHEN SPOUSE HAS OTHER PLAN
Individuals are eligible to sign up for an HSA-compatible high-deductible health plan and make HSA contributions even if their spouse has non-qualifying family coverage, provided the individual isn’t covered under the family plan, according to a ruling from the IRS. Individuals are permitted to make HSA contributions equal to the lesser of their plan’s annual deductible or $2650 single, $5250 family.
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HRA, HSA CONSOLIDATION TO CONTINUE, MERCURIO SAID
The advent of consumer-directed healthcare and the ensuing wild-west shootout has already led to industry consolidation, with more shakeout to come, said Carl Mercurio, president of Corporate Research Group Inc. (New Rochelle, NY) at the Managed Healthcare Industry Forum in New York.
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