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February 2006
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HSA Market News February 2006; Volume 3, Number 2
SPECIAL REPORT: Profitability of CDHPs...MCOs defend HSA profitability...Aetna, Cigna, United, WellPoint...Aetna is a CDHP leader...Health Net HSA uptake is slow...HSA could trim uninsured...Guardian expands HSAs...Aetna CDHP lives hit 435,000...Citigroup lands Citistreet...LaSalle offers HRAs, HSAs...HSA Trustee defends HSAs...HealthEquity strikes online deal...SHPS teams with First Data...Bust seeks to raise HSA limits...Kluwer touts HSA products...Metavante taps Reynolds...and more...
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MCOs DEFEND HSA PROFIT POTENTIAL
Managed care plans are publicly defending the profit potential of HRA and HSA-compatible high deductible health plans, amid concerns among some industry observers that these consumer-directed healthcare plans could eat into margins.
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AETNA IS A CDHP ‘LEADER,’ UBS SAYS
In a recent report on the outlook for the managed care industry, UBS analyst Justin Lake called Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) “a market leader in the consumer-directed health plan space.”
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HEALTH NET HSA UPTAKE SLOW, CFO SAYS
Health Net (Woodland Hills, CA) is experiencing slow uptake for HSA compatible high-deductible health plans, according to Buddy Piszel, chief financial officer. “We’d like to do better,” Piszel said at the UBS Global Healthcare Services Conference.
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HSAs MAY TRIM UNINSURED, TREASURY SAYS
In commenting on President Bush’s 2007 budget proposal to widen the availability of HSAs, the U.S. Treasury Dept. stated that the proposals “could result in a substantial reduction in the number of uninsured.”
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BUSH SEEKS INCREASE IN ALLOWABLE HSA CONTRIBUTIONS
The Bush Administration called for an increase in the amount of money people can put into an HSA to a level equal to all out-of-pocket medical expenses under a high-deductible health plan policy for a given year—potentially higher than the current funding limits of the lesser of health plan deductibles or $2700 single, $5450 family.
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CITIGROUP TO HANDLE HSAs FOR CITISTREET
Citigroup (New York) recently signed a deal with Citistreet to offer its HSA product to Citistreet’s corporate clients, a spokeswoman for Citistreet (Quincy, MA) told HMN.
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LASALLE BANK OFFERS HSAs, HRAs
LaSalle Bank (Chicago), a subsidiary of ABN Ambro N.V., has announced that it will offer HSAs, HRAs and FSAs to health plans and third-party administrators.
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HEALTH EQUITY SITE OFFERS eHEALTHINSURANCE LINK
HSA administrator Health Equity (Salt Lake City) announced that it would carry on its web site a link to online insurance broker eHealthInsurance.com (Mountain View, CA), allowing consumers to purchase a high-deductible health plan and sign up for an HSA at the same time.
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WOLTERS KLUWER PUSHES HSA COMPLIANCE PRODUCTS
Wolters Kluwer (Minneapolis, MN) is offering financial institutions a series of HSA compliance products, including documents to complete HSA transactions, marketing programs to help promote HSAs, training, consulting and documentation services.
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“DON’T BLAME HSAs,” SAYS HSA TRUSTEE SERVICES
Reacting to “so-called ‘think tanks’ with reports why HSAs are bad,” administrator HSA Trustee Services (Lake Geneva, WI) issued a press release stating that “long before there were health savings accounts, people were buying high deductible health plans to save on their health insurance premiums.”
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METAVANTE NAMES REYNOLDS TO HEAD HEALTHCARE
Metavante Corp. (Milwaukee) has named John Reynolds president of the company’s healthcare payment solutions division, which provides debit cards and technology that facilitates HSA, HRA and FSA transactions.
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AETNA HAS 453,000 IN CONSUMER-DIRECTED HEALTH PLANS
Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) reported that it had 453,000 in its HealthFund consumer-directed HealthFund family of HRA and HSA-compatible high deductible health plans as of Dec. 31, 2005, more than double the 224,000 it had in 2004.
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SHPS TEAMS WITH FIRST DATA, UMB
SHPS Holdings Inc. (Louisville, KY), a leading benefits management company, will utilize HSA, HRA and FSA transaction processing services and debit cards from First Data Corp. (Greenwood Village, CO) and trustee services from UMB Bank (Kansas City, MO).
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HSA HOLDERS FOCUS ON PORTABILITY, SURVEY SAYS
The fact that HSAs are portable—meaning that like an IRA they are the property of the individual—is becoming a key reason why people sign up for health savings accounts, according to a survey from Information Strategies (Ft. Lee, NJ).
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