NU Online News Service, Feb. 17, 2005, 3:01 p.m. EST
A Hartford health insurer says more customers are signing up for programs that offer access to personal health accounts.[@@]
The insurer, Aetna Inc., says it ended 2004 with 370,000 consumers enrolled in Aetna HealthFund plans. The number of enrollees has “more than doubled” since the end of 2003, the company says.
The HealthFund plan program gives members access to health reimbursement arrangements, health savings accounts and other forms of personal health accounts.
In most cases, employers or individual buyers combine the accounts with high-deductible health insurance. Members hold down the cost of the health insurance by using the accounts to cover the cost of routine care.