Byline: Michael Perrault News Staff Writer
Aetna U.S. Healthcare of Colorado, which has posted dramatic losses this year compared with competing health plans in the state, is hoping to win over employers with a new health plan that combines high deductibles with employer-funded savings accounts for employees.
Aetna executives called Aetna HealthFund an ``innovative'' option for self-insured employers that will feature a ``preferred provider'' (PPO) plan that channels members to a network of Colorado doctors and hospitals. But it also allows out-of-network care and sets annual deductibles of about $1,500 to $3,000.
Employers would fund health savings accounts for employees, expected to range from $500 to $1,000 or higher, that workers would use to cover care before the deductible is reached. Money in the savings account can be rolled over at the end of the year, to be used for medical services in subsequent years.
``Aetna HealthFund is the first plan of its type to be offered by a national, full-service health benefits company,'' said Ronald Williams, chief of health operations for Aetna's parent company.
HealthFund has the potential to be cheaper for employers than regular PPO plans, but that will depend on how companies design and fund the program.
``Employers are going to be increasingly looking for ways to share these dramatically rising health insurance costs with their employees,'' said Jim Hertel, publisher of the newsletter Colorado Managed Care. ``What this benefit plan also seems to do is create a mechanism for the employees to use before-tax dollars to meet deductibles and co-pays, rather than having to use after-tax dollars.''
While most HMOs in Colorado improved their performance in the first half of 2001, Aetna did not. It lost $11.8 million before taxes in the first quarter and $24.9 million in the second quarter.
