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CDHP, FSA, HSA, HRA? Unum offers a clear guide to the acronym soup of consumer-directed health plans

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  Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, February 10th 2011 at 8:05 GMT by Market Wire
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The latest in a series of guides to health care reform from Unum (NYSE:UNM) explains the variety of consumer-directed health plans, and offers strategies for combining the increasingly popular plans with other benefits.

"These pieces offer objective information on what the plans are, how they work and how combining them with traditional or voluntary benefits may help employees close financial gaps they could face with new high-deductible plans."

aThere are so many different kinds of consumer-directed plans a" from Health Savings Accounts to High Deductible Health Plans,a said Lydia Jilek, director of Product and Market development for Unum. aThese pieces offer objective information on what the plans are, how they work and how combining them with traditional or voluntary benefits may help employees close financial gaps they could face with new high-deductible plans.a

The number of Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements grew to 5.7 million in 2010, up from 1.2 million in 2006, according to a recent analysis from the [ Employee Benefit Research Institute ].

Intended to help explain ways to control benefits costs and to show how consumer-directed health plans and other benefits work together, the guides from Unum include:

• An industry white paper with detailed information:

[ Consumer-directed health plans: Cost control strategies for the health reform era ]

• Quick flyers on specific fund-based accounts:

[ Health Savings Accounts ]

[ Health Reimbursement Arrangements ]

• A one-page reference sheet on all CDHP elements:

[ CDHP plans at a glance ]

Unum has produced a series of informational pieces for employers and brokers on the effects of health care reform. The guides offer timelines of when changes will take effect and outline their effects on employers and individuals.

Though the financial protection benefits Unum provides wona™t be directly affected by health care reform, this straightforward information can help support employers in making informed decisions about employee benefits. The guides also offer information on the evolving role of financial protection benefits in the post-reform landscape.

Links to the guides are posted at [ unum.com/HealthCareReform ].

About Unum

Unum ([ www.unum.com ]) is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Through its subsidiaries, Unum Group paid approximately $6 billion in total benefits to customers in 2009.