Consumer Directed Healthcare Gets Giant Lift From Medicare Reform; CareGain Issues Comments.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers MONROE TOWNSHIP Monroe Township may refer to several places in the United States:
CareGain(R) (www.caregain.com) announced today comments on the passing of the Medicare Prescription Drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, bill, in particular, the long awaited Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA HSA Health Savings Account (US) HSA Human Serum Albumin HSA Human Services Agency (Nevada) HSA Health Services Agency HSA Health and Safety Authority (Ireland) ) legislation (H.R. 2351). HSAs will enable true portability in consumer directed health plans and are trademarks of the "consumer-driven" approach that CareGain has been pioneering since early 2001 through innovations like the HealthcareIRA(TM). CareGain has enabled support for new portable and retiree health benefit funding models that utilize HSAs, rather than Section 105 Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA's) for consumer-directed plan designs. HSAs are part of CareGain's proprietary Defined-Care Platform for health plans. "This legislation has the potential to be as big as the enabling legislation Noun 1. enabling legislation - legislation that gives appropriate officials the authority to implement or enforce the law legislation, statute law - law enacted by a legislative body creating the retirement savings business associated with 401(k)'s." said Burton Malkiel, Chemical Bank Chairman's Professor of Economics at Princeton University, the author of "Random Walk Down Wall Street", and CareGain Board of Advisory member. "This legislation will provide the trillion dollar opportunity to the health insurance and financial services industry." Professor Malkiel will be the keynote speaker at the Global Business Research group's Consumer Directed Health 2003 event in St. Petersburg, FL from December 3-5, 2003. According to the HSA legislation both employers and individuals under a high-deductible health insurance policy -- at least $1,000 a year for individuals, $2,000 for couples - will be able to allocate funds on a pre-tax basis into a healthcare savings account (HSA). This individual account will be portable and available for retirement healthcare, as well as for the IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. 213(d) qualified services. Although the FSA FSA Financial Services Authority FSA Food Standards Agency (UK) FSA Farm Service Agency (USDA) FSA Financial Services Agency (Japan) rollover A graphic element in an application or on a Web page that changes its color or shape when the pointer is moved (rolled) over it. See JavaScript rollover. See also n-key rollover. of $500 a year did not make it into the final legislation, the pre-tax funding of HSAs will allow employees to fund their account and rollover the amounts annually. CareGain championed this legislation by introducing its HealthcareIRA and other portable models to the House Ways and Means WAYS AND MEANS. In legislative assemblies there is usually appointed a committee whose duties are to inquire into, and propose to the house, the ways and means to be adopted to raise funds for the use of the government. This body is called the committee of ways and means. Committee late in 2002. "This reform will have a profound impact on the evolving consumer directed health industry, from those who build internal systems to administer HRA HRA Health Reimbursement Arrangement HRA Health Risk Assessment HRA Housing and Redevelopment Authority HRA Human Resources Administration HRA Health Reimbursement Account HRA Housing Revenue Account accounts, to claim systems and debit card debit card, card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. vendors," said Dr. Amit Gupta, President & COO of CareGain. "This legislation removes the complexity around multiple accounts, by enabling both employers and employees to contribute into a single account on a tax preferred basis, which was the intent of CareGain's HealthcareIRA model." CareGain has advised several health plans in the past to think flexibly, as HRA's and FSA's may not be the only components for consumer-directed health plan designs in the future. CareGain's Defined-Care(R) platform has been supporting the HSA-type account structure and portability since its inception. "Consumer directed healthcare is not about a single product design, but about a product strategy for health plans. This legislation provides another opportunity for health plans to develop an early mover advantage, and be an innovator in their markets," said David Lenihan, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of CareGain. The Medicare Prescription Drug bill plan design is similar to a consumer-directed health plan design. The Medicare Prescription drug plan requires an upfront deductible of $275, after which Medicare will cover 75% of costs up to $2,250. From $2,250 to $3600, there is an out-of-pocket deductible gap for the beneficiaries, similar to a "Bridge", and then Medicare pays 95% of all prescription drug costs. This type of model integrates several of CareGain's plan design elements. CareGain's health plan clients will be able to bid for the administration of this prescription drug only product for Medicare beneficiaries as of today. About CareGain CareGain provides health plans a fully-integrated and flexible consumer-directed healthcare and financial management platform. CareGain's Defined-Care(R) platform allows health plans to flexibly, rapidly and cost-effectively create and administer consumer-directed health plans, while leveraging their own internal systems and infrastructure. The platform enables many plan designs through the use of multiple account structures, including portability and defined-contribution retiree health benefits. A fully-integrated and personalized member decision support system and add-on debit card capabilities complement the platform, enabling a turnkey solution for speed to market. CareGain is the American Association of Health Plans' and Health Insurance Association of America's strategic partner for consumer-directed healthcare. CareGain is a privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. based in Monroe Township, NJ. |
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