Insurance Costs May Be Coming Down For HSA Users

What the planners hoped when they introduced HSAs is now apparently happening.

Insurance companies are trimming the prices of insurance policies geared to the changing patterns of clients with HSAs.

Reports indicate that insurance providers are beginning to rethink their offerings in order to reduce the premium while tailoring their products to the adjusted behavioral patterns of clients.

According to a webseminar hosted by Golden Rule for agents, the company is about to offer a product that is not covering a lot of out-of-hospital costs.

Company officials told agents their theory is that individuals and families will dip into their HSA monies for non-hospital charges and use the insurance to pay the higher costs of hospital-based treatments and procedures.

Significant Reduction

The company also said the product is between 30% and 40% lower than existing policies.

Also from the meeting, Golden Rule officials said that people are not interested in buying health insurance whose costs consume more than 5% of family income.

Confirming research done by HSAfinder, the company said almost half the potential clients who inquire about health insurance don’t buy because it costs too much.

Golden Rule’s announcement comes on the heels of a report that United Healthcare and AETNA in New York State are offering group policies about 30% cheaper than current offerings and other companies are scrambling to match.

Reports are also circulating that health insurers in other states are looking to more precisely tune and adjust policies to benefit from consumers reducing their usage of healthcare professionals and procedures because they are paying for the first dollars.

22% Overall Reduction

Some government officials predict rates for HSA policies should level out at about 22% below current levels overall.

At the same time, administration officials signaled they may be pushing forward with some programs to allow insurance companies to offer standardized policies across the country.

A recent informal meeting of insurance officials from several states held in a Parsippany, NJ hotel reportedly discussed concerns about a nationally available policy. No official action was taken or discussed but the concerns that these changes may be enacted were communicated to several Senate and House leaders.