Thursday, August 24, 2006
Health and financial information to combine on new debit cards
[M.L. Baker, "Coming: Insurance Debit Cards That Reveal Health History," Extreme Nano, 23 August 2006.]
UnitedHealth just announced that they will be delivering on a concept that has been discussed for some time in consumer-driven health care circles - a debit card that patients can use to pay at the time of service that also contains health care data:
Patients covered by UnitedHealth Group will soon receive patient identification cards that they can use as debit cards for medical expenses and that doctors can use to access patients' personal health information electronically.
The new cards, which will carry the MasterCard logo, can be swiped like a credit card at a doctors' office or other certified health provider. But in addition to providing payment, the cards can be used to confirm eligibility for services and provide access to personal health information at the point of care. The cards should be broadly available early in 2007.
UnitedHealth is working on a feature that uses the cards to interface with its electronic systems and determine precisely how much the patient owes at the time of the doctor visit. Besides collecting copayments and other patient-billable expenses easily, doctors' offices can use the cards to submit and process insurance claims more quickly, says UnitedHealth.
The cards will be tied to health savings and flexible spending accounts (HSAs and FSAs), tax-protected funds that generally must be used for health-related expenses. UnitedHealth, whose subsidiary Exante Financial Services is handling this, will also offer credit lines that can cover medical expenses not covered by health insurance and that exceed amounts in an individual's accounts.
"By combining health and financial information, we have greatly simplified a series of fragmented and time-consuming experiences for health care consumers," said John Prince, CEO of Exante Financial Services, in a statement.
[William Short, "HSAs treat ills of health care payment system," The Kansas City Business Journal, 25 March 2005.]
UnitedHealth just announced that they will be delivering on a concept that has been discussed for some time in consumer-driven health care circles - a debit card that patients can use to pay at the time of service that also contains health care data:
Patients covered by UnitedHealth Group will soon receive patient identification cards that they can use as debit cards for medical expenses and that doctors can use to access patients' personal health information electronically.
The new cards, which will carry the MasterCard logo, can be swiped like a credit card at a doctors' office or other certified health provider. But in addition to providing payment, the cards can be used to confirm eligibility for services and provide access to personal health information at the point of care. The cards should be broadly available early in 2007.
UnitedHealth is working on a feature that uses the cards to interface with its electronic systems and determine precisely how much the patient owes at the time of the doctor visit. Besides collecting copayments and other patient-billable expenses easily, doctors' offices can use the cards to submit and process insurance claims more quickly, says UnitedHealth.
The cards will be tied to health savings and flexible spending accounts (HSAs and FSAs), tax-protected funds that generally must be used for health-related expenses. UnitedHealth, whose subsidiary Exante Financial Services is handling this, will also offer credit lines that can cover medical expenses not covered by health insurance and that exceed amounts in an individual's accounts.
"By combining health and financial information, we have greatly simplified a series of fragmented and time-consuming experiences for health care consumers," said John Prince, CEO of Exante Financial Services, in a statement.
[William Short, "HSAs treat ills of health care payment system," The Kansas City Business Journal, 25 March 2005.]
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