Assurant Health, a consumer choice health care leader and provider of the country’s first Health Savings Account (HSA), today announces additional enhancements to their Individual and Small Group HSA product offering. Last year, the company unveiled HSA Tools, which provided HSA owners with the ability to manage account transactions with an integrated, secure website, as well as debit card and checkbook. HSA Tools also provides comprehensive health information, quality data and self-diagnostic tools via the internet.
Now, Assurant Health HSA owners will be able to invest in mutual funds, establish recurring automatic deposits from their checking or savings account into their HSA, and access detailed information on prescription drugs.
“Easy access to tools and information is vital to making HSAs a practical health care solution for individuals, families and employers,” said Assurant Health Senior Vice President-Development, Group Markets, Mike Kellen. “Assurant Health is committed to continually improving and enhancing our HSA product, always being responsive to the needs of our HSA owners.”
This latest release of Assurant Health HSA Tools addresses the trend of HSA owners using their accounts as retirement planning vehicles. “The tax favorability of HSAs, both on the federal level as well as in many states, makes them a great way for individuals to save for retirement,” said Kellen. “It only makes sense to provide HSA owners with investment tools that may help grow their accounts.”
The mutual fund families that will now be available to HSA owners include AIM, Federated, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton Investments, OppenheimerFunds, UMB Scout and others. In addition, HSA Tools now also provides expanded account management capabilities with the option to set up monthly automatic deposits from personal checking or savings accounts into HSAs. Additional checks and debit cards can now be ordered online as well.
HSA Tools has also increased access to health information online with Subimo’s PharmaAdvisor™. Found on the HSA Tools website, PharmaAdvisor provides detailed pharmacy information on a wide range of medical conditions and allows users to learn more about treatments and compare available drugs. Users can also manage their prescriptions by comparing costs, side effects, efficacy and dosage. PharmaAdvisor also provides information on possible drug interaction with other medications and will even create a customized list of questions consumers can ask their physicians.
To offer these extensive enhancements to HSA Tools, Assurant Health continues its relationships with outside companies, all highly regarded as experts in their fields:
• UMB Bank, n.a. (NASDAQ:UMBF) (www.umb.com) serves as custodian, offering access to the mutual funds though UMB Scout Brokerage Services, Inc., and, along with First Data Corporation (NYSE:FDC) (www.firstdata.com), supports the debit card access, transaction processing and production for Assurant Health’s HSAs. UMB has been offering Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and flexible spending cards since 1996. In addition to health care card solutions, UMB offers banking and related financial services to individuals and businesses nationwide. FDC is a leader in transaction processing functionality. UMB and FDC have a long history of successful partnership. The HSA product is insured by the FDIC. However, products offered through UMB Scout Brokerage Services, Inc., Member NASD, SIPC, are not insured by the FDIC, they are not a deposit of, or guaranteed by, the Bank, and they are subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of principal invested.
• Amisys Synertech Inc. (ASI) (www.asihealth.com) and Choicelinx Corporation (www.choicelinx.com) partner to provide the website capabilities of account management and health information access. ASI serves as the enrollment conduit between Assurant Health and the account custodian. ASI also provides HSA administration and customer support services. ASI excels in delivering in-depth information management software products and services to the health plan industry and has more than five years of experience serving the consumer-directed market. Choicelinx is a benefits technology and services company specializing in internet tools to support consumer-focused benefits products.
“HSAs are creating an environment where people have real control of their health care and financing,” said Kellen. “At Assurant Health, we’re proud of the role we’re playing in continuing to empower Americans to get the care they need at the right price.”
About Assurant Health:
In business since 1892, Assurant Health provides health insurance coverage for more than one million people nationwide. Assurant Health develops and provides a wide range of individual medical, small group, short term and student health insurance products, including consumer-choice products such as HSAs and HRAs. With almost 3,000 employees, Assurant Health is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., and has operations offices in Minnesota, Idaho, and Florida, as well as sales offices across the country. Assurant Health products are issued and underwritten by Fortis Insurance Co., John Alden Life Insurance Co., and Fortis Benefits Insurance Co. Assurant Health is found at www.assuranthealth.com.
Assurant Health is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected other markets. Its four key businesses -- Assurant Employee Benefits; Assurant Health; Assurant Preneed; and Assurant Solutions -- have partnered with clients who are leaders in their industries and have built leadership positions in a number of specialty insurance market segments in the U.S. and selected international markets. Assurant, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ, has over $20 billion in assets and $7 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com
For more information on Assurant Health HSAs, visit www.assuranthealth.com.