The Benny Debit Card Will Link to Multiple Plans Via North American

North American Health Plans Inc., one of the country's largest third-party administrators of self-funded health-care plans, has begun using Visa- and MasterCard-branded debit cards from Evolution Benefits Inc., an Avon, Conn.-based processor. North American, Buffalo, N.Y., began Jan. 1 issuing Evolution Benefits' cards linked to flexible-spending accounts for its own employees and for several clients, among them Peerless Faucets and Heidelberg USA. In addition, North American will launch Feb. 1 a card-based health-savings-account program with Evolution Benefits and its partner, Mellon Bank, which will act as trustee, under which cards will be linked to HSAs offered by employers that take up the plans through North American. No numbers are available yet on how many of the cards have been issued so far in the FSA program with North American, says a spokesperson at Evolution Benefits. The processor's debit cards, which are issued under the Benny brand, can be linked to a variety of so-called consumer-directed benefits plans, including FSAs, HSAs, and health-reimbursement accounts. Employees tap their benefits by using the card at physicians' offices, pharmacies, and the like, eliminating the need to pay by other means and then file for reimbursement. The program includes electronic substantiation to document that purchases are qualified under the plans, a feature the processor says cuts paperwork by 75% and administrative costs by as much as 40%. Evolution Benefits says it can generate electronic substantiation meeting Internal Revenue Service rules for more than 80% of transactions. The convenience of card-based access also increases employee participation in FSA programs, the company says, citing a 20% to 40% boost in participation rates among clients after introduction of the Benny Visa or MasterCard. A 5-year-old company, Evolution Benefits counts 1,500 employers and 40 managed-care organizations among its clients. Most recently, it signed an agreement with retailer 1-800 Contacts Inc. to accept the Benny card (Digital Transactions News, Oct. 21, 2004). North American Health Plans administers claims for more than 400,000 health-plan participants, processing more than $1 billion a year in claims.