HealthEquity and Health Exchanges

The State of Utah launched the country’s first small group (2-50 employees) health exchange on Jan. 1, 2010, and chose HealthEquity as one of its primary partners. HealthEquity manages both the collection of payments from the participating employers, and the payment of premiums to the participating carriers, vendors and brokers. We also provide health care financial services in the form of administering Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for those who sign up for qualified plans in the Utah Health Exchange.

Utah, like many other states, has a large percentage of part-time employees. In fact, some estimates suggest that Utah has the second highest number of part-time employees in the country. Many employers with part-time employees would like to offer a pro-rated amount of tax-advantaged contributions to help pay for their part-time employees’ health insurance. In a non-exchange marketplace, part-time employees are often not offered insurance or offered a “mini-med” insurance plan that provides subpar benefits.

Unlike the traditional insurance market wherein health insurance benefits are defined by the insured’s primary employer, in the UHE’s premium aggregator (PA) – provided by HealthEquity – contribution for benefits may be provided by multiple employers, as well as other third-party entities, including government subsidy programs. This allows employees to go to the UHE and shop for benefits with pooled funds, which can then be applied to a benefit chosen by the employee. As such, employees have more choice and it allows multiple employers, both part- and full-time, to contribute to employees’ health insurance. The PA benefits employees who are seeking tax-advantaged, guarantee issue; health insurance and employers who are attempting to recruit better employees by offering reasonably priced health benefits as part of their total compensation package.