SHPS Launches Proprietary Spending Accounts Platform

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SHPS, Inc. has developed a new platform for administering health spending accounts that provides employers of all sizes with more options and unprecedented flexibility.

The new platform, announced today, offers access to a much broader range of plan configuration and delivery options. The platform enables all health spending accounts to be administered as a multiple account service, with only one website, single sign-on, statement, and debit card—capabilities previously unavailable in the marketplace.

According to SHPS president and CEO Rishabh Mehrotra, the new platform—which features significant improvements to health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements capabilities—allows SHPS to support employers as they deal with complex changes brought on by healthcare reform.

"With healthcare reform guidelines mandating state-based exchanges by 2014, we've seen employers reevaluating options for providing coverage to their employees," said Mehrotra. "A significant number of our clients are moving to consumer-directed health plans. As one of the top spending account providers in the country, it was important for us to invest in a platform that could support our clients' needs well into the future."

Mehrotra also recognized a growing desire among clients to gain access to a highly flexible and configurable health spending account platform, to secure a single vendor to coordinate multiple accounts and to ensure that cost saving features were a part of the offerings.

Applying best practices from 25 years of experience working with some of the largest and most sophisticated employers in the country, SHPS designed a state-of-the-art software system that is scalable to meet the needs of employers of all sizes, includes a full suite of spending account products, portable to ensure health plans can be altered without having to make changes to overall consumer health strategy or spending accounts, and, ultimately one that supports post-reform standards for compliance and security.

"Whether employers elect to offer group coverage to their employees or move them to individual coverage through exchanges, we will be able to meet their needs," said Mehrotra. "We are providing a route for individual employees to choose how they want to spend, save, and grow their dollars to meet their healthcare needs."

According to Jerry Kreisler, chief operating officer for SHPS HR Solutions, the platform is designed to manage the controlled disbursement of monies and it can be executed across a wide range of scenarios. Some examples include health incentives accounts, retiree accounts, premium contribution accounts, tuition reimbursement, fitness, and other defined contribution arrangements.

The platform also has many convenience features for participants and members, including:

• a mobile application;
• online claims submission;
• texting service;
• the ability to research and review all medical claims online; and
• client reporting tools.

By fall of 2011 SHPS had successfully transferred all of its clients onto this single platform. Some of SHPS' largest clients have been using the platform now for nearly two years. Not only does the platform mean more options, convenience, and flexibility for its users, it also allows for greater quality assurance because SHPS is managing every aspect from a single centralized location.

"Our longevity in the industry and our ability to work within complex environments provides a direct benefit to our clients," said Kreisler. SHPS administers more than 1 million spending accounts, with an average client size of 15,000 employees. The new platform is customizable for smaller organizations and large Fortune 100 clients alike. "We administer HSAs, HRAs, and FSAs to clients with six participants up to clients with 350,000 participants," said Kreisler. "Our scalability is proven."

Mehrotra said the new system fits in well with the movement nationwide to make individuals more responsible for their healthcare decisions. "Our expectation is that as employers provide their employees with more flexibility in making their healthcare decisions, that employees will become more engaged and will perceive their healthcare as having value," he said. "If we can help employers simplify administration and prepare for healthcare reform, while driving employee engagement, then we will have succeeded."

About SHPS
SHPS is a national, single-source provider of benefits administration, medical management software and health improvement programs through the company's SHPS, Landacorp and Carewise Health brands. We help employers and their employees get the most value from their health benefits and health spending.  Whether accessing a single service or a suite of solutions, clients benefit from our unique perspective of the entire employee experience.  To learn more, visit www.shps.com.

SOURCE SHPS, Inc.

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