Audio CD and written materials of AIS's audioconference on March 15, 2007

Debit/Credit Cards and CDH: How Remaining Payment and Paperwork Problems Will Be Solved

Health credit and debit cards hold the promise of solving payment problems and slashing paperwork for providers, patients and health plans. The success of consumer-directed health (CDH) plans will be directly linked to the technology that gives patients real-time access to their health savings accounts (HSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). And recently released IRS guidance ensures that the technology behind these thin pieces of plastic will advance quickly in 2007. Learn what steps are being taken to solve the remaining debit/credit card transaction problems and to make account-based CDH plans significantly more attractive to consumers.

Sponsored by Atlantic Information Services, Inc., publisher of Inside Consumer-Directed Care, Managed Care Week and Consumer-Directed Health Care Facts, Trends and Data

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In December 2006, IRS issued Notice 2007-2, which gives grocery stores, discount stores, wholesale clubs and Web-based pharmacy retailers until the end of 2007 to comply with electronic card substantiation rules, which will have a profound effect on how consumers access funds from HSAs, HRAs and FSAs. With as much as 30% of the nation's pharmaceutical sales coming from non-health care merchants, 2007 will be a year of amazing advances in electronic payment technology. But the expense of moving to a system that provides claims-level detail could be cost-prohibitive for some retailers that sell pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter drugs. And unless the claims-level detail requirements of the new stock-keeping unit (SKU)-based system are satisfied, debit cards won't work at major retail stores that sell pharmaceuticals.

Hear three experts in the field analyze the effect the new IRS rules will have on health card transactions, the very latest information about credit- and debit-card technology and specific steps that remain for their successful integration into CDH plans.

First up, you'll hear from Chris Byrd, executive vice president of operations and development at Evolution Benefits, Inc., which has partnerships with four of the nation's largest HSA administrators: HSA Bank, Mellon Financial Services, Wells Fargo and BB&T, which collectively administer more than 300,000 HSAs. Mr. Byrd will discuss the IRS rules that affect debit and credit cards and give you a look at the behind-the-card technology necessary to allow the cards to simultaneously integrate with the HSA custodian and the health plan in real time.

Next, John Prince, CEO of UnitedHealth Group's Exante Financial Services will tell you about the latest line of advanced debit cards that seamlessly integrate with the Web and electronic data interchange. This technology gives providers the ability to transmit and receive claims data — in real time — without having to go through a claims clearinghouse. The technology was piloted last summer and has been rolled out nationwide. Exante administers 1.1 million financial accounts including more than 275,000 HSAs ($325 million in deposits) and says about 90% of its HSA transactions are made via debit card.

Finally, you'll hear from William Fandrich, product executive for CIGNA HealthCare's new HealthePass card program. He will explain how the technology — which CIGNA is piloting with American Express, Metavante and Medstat — is more effective than real-time claims adjudication and will redefine and simplify the existing payment processes and improve the provider-patient relationship. At the heart of the new card is a calculator that generates an estimate based on the specific treatment, provider contract and real-time snapshot of the patient's covered benefits, flexible financing and payment options to meet the needs of the individual and a “hold and settle” payment process.

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Speakers

CHRIS BYRD is executive vice president at Evolution Benefits, a debit-card vendor that works with health plans and HSA administrators. His responsibilities include operations, product development and business development. Prior to co-founding Evolution, Byrd was senior vice president at Women's Health USA, a group that provides management services to physician practices.

JOHN PRINCE is CEO of Exante Financial Services, a division of UnitedHealth Group. Since joining United in December 2005, Prince has worked to establish Exante as the pre-eminent health services banking company. Prior to joining United, Prince was senior vice president and head of health care business strategy at JPMorgan Chase.

WILLIAM FANDRICH is product executive for CIGNA's new HealthePass card program. Prior to heading this initiative, Mr. Fandrich led several CIGNA areas including interactive voice response, portals service, employer services and provider information technology. Prior to joining CIGNA in 2003, he was president of Cogentric, a provider of enterprise security management software to Fortune 1000 companies.

Moderator: Steve Davis, managing editor of AIS's industry-leading biweekly newsletter, Inside Consumer-Directed Care.

 

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