• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Aetna Makes It Simpler and Easier for Consumers to Track and Manage Personal Health Care Expenses

Posted on: Thursday, 16 March 2006, 09:00 CST

Aetna (NYSE:AET) today announced an additional enhancement to its suite of consumer tools and information that will allow members to more easily track and manage their health care expenses. Aetna members will now be able to download their claims information to their personal computer via Aetna Navigator, Aetna's password-protected member website, enabling them to manage the information in a data file or spreadsheet. The option to keep claims information in a personal file is particularly relevant at tax time, when consumers often need to create a record of their medical expenses for tax deduction purposes.

"While Aetna members have long had the opportunity to view their claims activity on our website, this enhancement allows them to electronically 'grab' the information, save it in a file or spreadsheet, and sort it to best suit their individual needs," said Christine B. Skelly, head of Health-related Financial Solutions for Aetna. "This helps make the information much more relevant to consumers - particularly members of our consumer-directed plans -- since it can help them better track, manage and budget for their health care spending and assist with tax reporting."

More than half a million Americans are members of the Aetna HealthFund consumer-directed family of products, which feature either a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) or Health Savings Account (HSA). In a recent survey of Aetna HealthFund HRA members, 88 percent say that the plan makes them more conscious of health care costs. As they grow more aware of these costs and their role in managing them, consumers are seeking quick and easy ways to keep tabs on their health care spending.

The option to download claims information to a personal file is available to Aetna members via Aetna Navigator. This new feature gives members the ability to download their claims to a computer quickly and securely, and manage the data to suit their needs. In addition to determining eligibility for an income tax deduction, having claims information in a data file or spreadsheet is helpful when selecting a health plan or when deciding how much to contribute to a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Other uses include:

-- Maintaining and managing a permanent record of Aetna claims

-- Planning and budgeting for health care expenses

-- Sharing the information, such as a list of prescriptions, with a physician

-- Determining the total amount spent with one provider, on a specific service, or for the entire year

This latest enhancement to Aetna Navigator further strengthens one of the strongest suites of consumer tools and information in the industry. Aetna's Physician Price Transparency pilot program provides members with access to the actual discounted rates for up to 25 of the most common office-based services for approximately 5,000 physicians in the greater Cincinnati area. Other innovative tools include Rate Your Medical Professional, a web-based survey that allows Aetna members to voluntarily provide their level of satisfaction with their access to and relationship with Aetna participating health care professionals, and Estimate the Cost of Care, a suite of tools that provides average cost information for prescription drugs, medical and dental procedures, office visits, medical tests and a variety of diseases and conditions.

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 27.9 million unique members with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care and disability plans, and medical management capabilities. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans and government-sponsored plans. www.aetna.com

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category