Briefs
HealthEquity Inc. has partnered with First HSA LLC of Reading, PA, to become the custodian and payment transaction processor for First HSA’s 43,000 health savings account holders. As a result of this partnership, First HSA members will enjoy some of the same benefits HealthEquity members receive in building their health savings, such as a wider variety of investment options and free online bill pay. In exchange, HealthEquity will extend its presence in the Northeast by providing custodial services to First HSA’s employer and health plan partners.
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Hewitt Associates has acquired HRAdvance Inc., a leading benefits dependent audit services company. HRAdvance’s solution further strengthens Hewitt’s existing dependent eligibility offer. HRAdvance has a suite of products tailored for companies looking for ways to reduce their health care costs. Plan-Smart offers employers a comprehensive audit of their covered dependents to identify potential cost savings from identifying ineligible dependents. Plan-Guard is an ongoing solution that helps companies ensure dependent eligibility at the time of enrollment.
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Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company is offering Resolutions, a specified disease coverage product that gives customers the option to add specific coverage for cancer and associated cancerous conditions to any existing private or potentially public health care plan. With group worksite coverage, companies will also find this option suitable as a component of business sponsored health care for their employees. Furthermore, with optional riders, Resolutions gives customers the flexibility to spend as much or as little as is necessary to address their needs.
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Lighthouse1 announced a multi-year service partnership with U.S. Bank to provide additional features and functionality to U.S. Bank’s HSA clients. U.S. Bank’s new offering, which runs on the Lighthouse1 OnDemand platform, will make it easier for consumers to manage their health care accounts with a single payments card and a single Web portal for online account management. Employers and consumers rely on Lighthouse1 to provide an intuitive, easy-to-use, web-based technology solution that enables them to simplify, engage, and monitor account activity in real time.
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The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) has expanded its dental PPO network coverage with the acquisition of Nevada-based Preferred Dental LLC (Preferred Dental Network). Guardian has one of the largest national dental PPO networks with more than 70,900 dentists at more than 131,500 locations.
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Regence BlueShield has been chosen to serve Washington State public employees through the Uniform Medical Plan (the state’s self insured PPO plan). Using a competitive bid process, the Washington State Health Care Authority awarded the contract to Regence for its commitment to partnering with the state and for the company’s exceptional experience serving large member groups. Regence will begin serving the UMP’s more than 180,000 members with medical benefits effective Jan. 1, 2011.
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Aflac now offers voluntary group benefits to companies with as few as 100 employees. The move allows Aflac, which recently acquired group benefits provider Continental American Insurance Company, now operating under the Aflac brand, to offer both individual and group plans to a wider range of employers at no direct cost. Companies with just 100 employees can now offer the insurer’s suite of group and individual voluntary plans, including accident, critical illness, disability, and life insurance policies.
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Disability Insurance Services and LifeBrokers have teamed up to provide brokers with services in disability insurance sales training, marketing, and case management. Through this partnership, brokers will receive industry-leading tools, practices, technologies, and consultancy. LifeBrokers, a brokerage general agency, specializes in life insurance, disability, long-term care, and annuities. LifeBrokers helps agents grow their businesses by offering a wide range of insurance products backed by extensive training and point-of-sale support for all four segments.
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DSS Research is making available to qualified parties the free use of its DSS Health Care Engagement Index. HCEI can help determine how engaged your members, employees, or patients are in their personal health care and provide insight on how to move them toward higher levels of engagement. The DSS HCEI is based on a scientific approach to scale development to combine four health related constructs—health literacy, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors—into a comprehensive measure of consumer engagement. For more information on using the DSS Health Care Engagement Index for free: www.dssresearch.com/insurance/products_services/ engagement/use_hcei_for_free.asp.
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The National Restaurant Association and UnitedHealthcare are launching the Restaurant Health Care Alliance, offering a suite of products that will help nearly 13 million restaurant employees gain easier access to health care coverage and related products and services. The alliance, in development for nearly two years, will provide restaurant owners and employees easy access to costeffective health benefit options that meet the health care needs of this diverse industry. The resources and tools developed by the alliance will be available online at www.restauranthealthcare.org.
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The Employee Benefits Group division of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF, TSX: SLF) announced that it will provide unlimited lifetime maximums for stop-loss policies effective on and after Oct. 1, 2010. This new feature was developed to help employers meet the mandates in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Unlimited lifetime maximums mean that employers will receive stop-loss protection for qualified benefits, and employees and their dependents can count on their benefits being there when they need them.
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CAQH announced that CIGNA has earned certification for electronically exchanging administrative data, for more than 11 million medical customers, using the CAQH Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange Phase I operating rules. The CORE rules are improving the flow and data content of administrative exchanges between providers and health plans. CORE Phase I-certified health plans cover more than 85 million lives. Hospitals, physicians, and health care professionals in the CIGNA network now have improvedreal-time access to patient eligibility and benefits data.
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WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WALP), the nation’s largest health insurer by medical membership, announced it will unilaterally implement key provisions of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro. These new provisions include more transparent benefit language including clear explanations of benefits to members with breast cancer, and the provisions standardize minimum recovery times in the hospital for women recovering from mastectomy.
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ING’s U.S. Employee Benefits business said it will offer unlimited annual and lifetime maximum stop-loss insurance coverage to businesses that self-fund their health plans. The move is effective immediately for new clients and upon renewal for existing clients. With the passage of the recent health care reform laws, these caps will be lifted later this year. Self-funding businesses would then be left to cover the excess amount when they have employees with catastrophic claims. The ING Employee Benefits’ unlimited offering will allow these employers to continue to provide health insurance to their employees without a gap in their liability.
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Ascension Insurance Inc. has announced Las Vegas-based Portal of Nevada will join Portal Insurance Agency Inc. to expand Portal Insurance Agency’s capabilities and consultative expertise in the area of employee benefit programs and health care strategies. Portal of Nevada is a full-service employee benefits consulting firm with clients throughout Nevada and California. Parent company Ascension Insurance Inc., headquartered in Kansas City, MO, is a nationwide full-service insurance and employee benefits firm providing expertise in consulting, brokerage and risk management services.
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EyeMed Vision Care’s Customer Care Center has earned the “Certified Center of Excellence” designation from BenchmarkPortal, placing its operation in the top 10% of more than 25,000 centers based on customer satisfaction and overall operational excellence. BenchmarkPortal and the Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University conducted the rigorous review of EyeMed’s Call Center. Key measurement factors of the BenchmarkPortal certification process include both effective and efficient call center performancecentered in leadership, resources and employee training.
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While national voluntary product sales experienced moderate growth, the Employee Benefits division of American United Life Insurance Company (AUL), a OneAmerica company, surpassed the national average with voluntary life sales increasing 57% and voluntary disability sales increasing 60%, respectively. In 2009, the Employee Benefits division’s regional group offices contributed to 125% of new sales. Additionally, premium from reclaimed territory represented more than 25% of division production. The division also increased its national footprint by 405% in Texas and 1,400% in the Chicago region.