Episode 35: Martin Trussell from Acclaris talks about Consumer-Driven Health Plans

Marty has over 30 years of experience in the health benefits industry. His career includes senior marketing and sales roles with third party benefits administrators, HMOs, and – for over 12 years – the corporate offices of Humana, Inc. He has also been the president of a marketing communications firm specializing in serving health care clients. He is currently Vice President, Sales and Business Development at Acclaris, a company that offers an integrated package of technology and services to support account-based healthcare plans such as Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts on a, private labeled platform. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Marty writes frequently about consumer-directed healthcare topics. Contact: E-mail Website Twitter 00:00 Marty talks about how he started working for Acclaris. 01:10 Marty explains what Acclaris does and what a TPA is. 01:20 TPA stands for Third Party Administer. 02:40 What makes a payer want to put together these types of health plans? 04:16 There is a trend for offering higher deductible health plans in the current healthcare market, and Acclaris jumps in to assist consumers during the time between paying deductibles and getting refunds. 05:50 What does FSA stand for? Flexible Spending Accounts. 06:20 What does HRA stand for? Health Reimbursement Arrangement. 07:00 What does the HSA stand for? Health Saving Account. 11:15 The situation that Marty is seeing with Health Systems now, and what Acclaris is addressing, can be related back to Patti Peeple's analogy of "Squeezing the Balloon." 13:07 The importance of Patient Accountability for health outcomes. 13:20 How equipped are providers for knowing what the health costs are for their patients? 17:00 The Pros and Cons of a High-Deductible plan vs. a more traditional health plan, and how patient-consumers are changing the healthcare market. 19:10 The growing importance of patient education. 20:30 The pro for the consumer side of a limited distribution network. 25:00 Shopping for healthcare plans, and where preventative healthcare falls in accordance with high deductible healthcare plans. 27:30 Tools that would help consumers and providers when choosing a healthcare plan and using it. 29:40 Marty can be reached for further inquiry on LinkedIn or at www.Acclaris.com