Medical Mutual of Ohio Announces HSA Products

Cleveland-based Medical Mutual of Ohio has introduced a line of Health Savings Account products.

An HSA is a special tax-sheltered savings account that is similar to a traditional IRA, but is intended only for medical expenses. An HSA works in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance policy that provides comprehensive healthcare coverage at the lowest possible cost. Medical Mutual HSA products can be opened by an individual who purchases a qualified high- deductible health plan on his or her own or through a qualified high-deductible health plan offered by an employer, the company said in a statement.

Once a qualified high-deductible health insurance policy is in effect, a person is then eligible to establish and make contributions to an HSA. An employer may choose to sponsor a qualified high-deductible health plan and also contribute to the account in addition to contributions made by the employee.

Even though some HSAs may be employer-sponsored, they are individually held accounts. Funds can be accessed by either using checks established for the account, or a debit card. Once the deductible is met, the insurance policy kicks in paying medical expenses according to the benefit design.

Under current tax law, the maximum amount a person can contribute and deduct each year is determined by the size of the deductible. For individual and family plans the maximum is 100 percent of the deductible with caps of $2,600 for individuals and $5,150 for families.

Handling the accounts for Medical Mutual customers will be MSAver, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected HSA administrators. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lumenos Inc., MSAver will engage Medical Mutual customers in their healthcare by giving them control of their routine healthcare dollars and decisions. Each participating customer will have an HSA set up in his or her own name.

Both employees and employers will be able to contribute to the HSA. In turn, customers will be able to use their HSAs to pay for day-to-day healthcare for themselves and their families-including office visits, prescription drugs, lab tests, dental expenses and any other covered services. Unused HSA dollars will roll over from one year to the next to spend on future health care needs.

Medical Mutual is the oldest and largest health insurance company based in Ohio, with annual premium and service-generated revenue in 2003 was $1.9 billion. The company also has offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton and Youngstown.

Topics Ohio