Monday, November 15, 2004
UMB ahead of the game on HSAs
[Christopher Tritto, "Banks see health saving accounts as profitable opportunity," The Business Journal of Kansas City, 12 November 2004.]
UMB Bank, one of the co-sponsors of our recent HSA workshop, made headlines last week for its efforts to take banking into new territory:
The advent of health savings accounts, one feature of last year's sweeping Medicare legislation, is creating a new business opportunity for banks, and UMB Bank is getting out in front of the trend.
An HSA is a tax-favored savings account that is used in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance plan. It is designed to give individuals more control of how they spend money on health care and provide an incentive to save for future health care expenses and retirement.
Although some banks throughout the country are offering HSAs to retail customers, UMB is partnering with insurance companies to meet what is expected to be a huge demand for the products.
UMB provides checkbooks and debit cards that can be used to draw on HSAs and flexible spending accounts, holds money contributed to HSAs, issues financial statements and handles associated tax reporting requirements.
The HSA market still is evolving as consumer interest grows and insurance companies and banks explore niches to do business, said Dennis Triplett, executive vice president of UMB Bank in Kansas City.
"The key is for banks to figure out how they choose to strategically play in this market space," Triplett said. "Do they want to offer health savings accounts for individuals or in group markets controlled by insurance companies?"
[Christopher Tritto, "Banks see health saving accounts as profitable opportunity," The Business Journal of Kansas City, 12 November 2004.]
UMB Bank, one of the co-sponsors of our recent HSA workshop, made headlines last week for its efforts to take banking into new territory:
The advent of health savings accounts, one feature of last year's sweeping Medicare legislation, is creating a new business opportunity for banks, and UMB Bank is getting out in front of the trend.
An HSA is a tax-favored savings account that is used in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance plan. It is designed to give individuals more control of how they spend money on health care and provide an incentive to save for future health care expenses and retirement.
Although some banks throughout the country are offering HSAs to retail customers, UMB is partnering with insurance companies to meet what is expected to be a huge demand for the products.
UMB provides checkbooks and debit cards that can be used to draw on HSAs and flexible spending accounts, holds money contributed to HSAs, issues financial statements and handles associated tax reporting requirements.
The HSA market still is evolving as consumer interest grows and insurance companies and banks explore niches to do business, said Dennis Triplett, executive vice president of UMB Bank in Kansas City.
"The key is for banks to figure out how they choose to strategically play in this market space," Triplett said. "Do they want to offer health savings accounts for individuals or in group markets controlled by insurance companies?"
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