Another financial institution has started offering HSAs. Again, we ask, what took you so long?

ATLANTA, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI) announced today a turn-key Consumer-Directed Healthcare (CDH) solution for employers seeking to take control of their healthcare costs. The SunTrust Health Savings Account (HSA) combines administrative and financial components, including a healthcare payment card, integrated account management, online healthcare tools, and HSA investment options, offered through a single trusted custodial partner.

“SunTrust is committed to providing solutions that assist our clients in establishing a sound financial foundation,” said Gary Plourde, Senior Vice President, SunTrust Institutional Investments Director of Sales. “We recognize that managing the rising cost of healthcare while achieving sustainable business growth is one of the greatest challenges businesses face today. In an effort to meet the demands of this dynamic market, SunTrust has launched a turn-key HSA product designed to accommodate the business needs of any organization regardless of size.”

Regence is the largest health insurer in the Northwest region of the United States has teamed with US Bank, one of the largest banks in the country, to offer debit card services and act as the HSA custodian for their accounts.

“We are proud to partner with an established financial institution and brand like U.S. Bank to offer our members the superior level of quality and financial services they have come to expect from Regence,” said Cary Badger, vice president of Market Development for Regence. “U.S. Bank’s experience, strong brand recognition and flexibility in online servicing capabilities embody our shared philosophy of supporting members in their health care decisions.”

Always nice to read stories like this about Health Savings Accounts. As the balances on these accounts grow they become harder and harder to discount. In the first part of this year they’ve grown by nearly 20 percent.

According to Canopy Financial’s Health Savings Account Market Report for the second quarter of 2008, individual and family HSA balances both grew by nearly 20 percent over the last three months.

According to Canopy, as of the end of Q2 ‘08, the average individual HSA balance was $969 and the average family HSA balance was $1,663. As intended by designers of the HSA concept, both younger and older consumers seem to be using their HSAs as long-term investments: individual accounts saw triple as much inflow as outflow, and family accounts showed double the inflow for the outflow.

I tell everyone I know with an HDHP to open their HSA for just this reason. It works as a forced savings account. If you’re healthy with no major problems you can save a lot of money without spending a lot. Three times as much apparently.

Caught this release on Google this morning. Guilford Savings Bank in Connecticut is now offering a complete Health Savings Account program.

Guilford Savings Bank, with $461 million dollars in assets and seven-branch relationship bank, has signed with HSA Clearing Corp to roll out a complete Health Savings Account program.

The Guilford Savings Bank has been serving the financial needs on the Connecticut shoreline for over 130 years. Launching their Health Savings Account program is the next step in their outstanding commitment to their customers.

It’s refreshing to see a bank that has been around for 130 years has added a Health Savings Account program. Even established banks realize these are the way of the future.

One of the main concerns employees have with High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts are “What if something happens today and I can’t cover the deductible?” Well, one company has figured out a way. Interest fee cash advances on their Health Savings Account. This is genius.

The company in 2006 devised a way to help employees pay unexpected medical bills by advancing cash interest-free from future paychecks. The money would otherwise have been deducted from their paychecks during the course of the year and deposited into individual health savings accounts. The service helped calm employees’ fears of not being able to pay for the high deductible, which is $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families in one of the plans the company offers.

“The No. 1 concern we heard from our associates was, ‘I don’t have $2,500 January 1st if I’m hit by a bus,’ ” said Andy Greenberg, principal of HR programs. “They were worried by that. This takes the worry out of having an unpredictable health care event.”

This is the type of company I’d like to work for.

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Comerica Bank is the latest financial institution to add an HSA program. Our only question is, what took them so long?

Comerica Bank’s business customers can now offer their employees an affordable option for managing their health care expenses with Comerica HealthReserve, a health savings account (HSA). Comerica HealthReserve is also available to individuals with high-deductible health insurance coverage.

“With healthcare costs continuing to outpace inflation, the Comerica HealthReserve account enables us to offer our business customers a chance to lower their expenses while helping their employees,” said Cassandra McKinney, director of Retail Product and Sales Management for Comerica Bank.

Perhaps the most affected by rising health care costs are small businesses who have a limited budget for their employees health care. A HDHP paired with a Health Savings Account is a great way for small businesses to control and save on health care. The Small Business Administration realizes this and have acted accordingly.

The Treasury Department and the U.S. Small Business Administration today announced a new website that provides small businesses with information on how Health Savings Accounts ( HSAs ) can help meet their employees’ health care needs.

While many Americans have access to health coverage through their employers, many employees work for small companies that are unable to sponsor health insurance plans.  Many of these employees can benefit from the affordability and flexibility of HSAs and HSA-eligible health plans.

The new website, www.hsa.gov, presents the advantages of HSAs, provides comparisons to other health coverage options, and has other materials to help employers and individuals determine whether and how to enroll in HSA-eligible coverage and how to save for health care costs through an HSA.

This is defintely a helpful site for small business owners as it presents the information in an easily understandable format.

Inside Consumer Directed care released there semiannual report on Health Savings Accounts and they have continued to grow at an exponential rate.

Since the products became available in 2004, consumers have opened 2.9 million health savings accounts and have collectively banked more than $3.9 billion, according to ICDC’s semiannual report on HSAs. The average account balance, however, remained virtually unchanged at $1,348 - up just $7 since January. A year ago, financial firms said they collectively held more than $2.33 billion in 1.76 million accounts. By Jan. 1, 2008, assets had grown to $3.2 billion in 2.2 million accounts. The report is based on data from more than 40 financial firms that regularly provide ICDC with account figures. Also included in the estimate are data gathered from another 40 firms for AIS’s’ 2007 HSA Directory and Resource Guide. A similar report on credit unions will be included in an upcoming issue of ICDC.

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Health Savings Accounts expand as care costs rise. In other news, people want to save money.

When workers throughout the country get the chance to make changes to their health insurance coverage this fall, some may find that their employer is offering a new option: health savings accounts.

These accounts, which are coupled with high-deductible insurance plans, allow people to put aside money tax free - up to $3,000 for individuals and $5,950 for families in 2009 - to help pay for medical expenses that are not covered by insurance, including things like over-the-counter medications.

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JP Morgan has seen their Health Savings Accounts grow by 60 percent in the last year.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–J.P. Morgan today announced that its Health Savings Account (HSA) business has grown by 60 percent in account volume over the last year.

As the only national bank to offer HSAs through its own proprietary platform, J.P. Morgan remains an industry leader with more than 300,000 account holders and more than $400 million in assets.

“HSAs enable employers and consumers to balance more effectively short- and long-term needs around healthcare expenses,” said David Josephs, head of J.P. Morgan’s Consumer-Directed Healthcare business. “With the rising cost of healthcare coverage, health insurance plans that include an HSA help individuals plan for current and future expenses while helping employers and individuals manage healthcare costs.”

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