DataPath to Serve as HSA Administrator for Arkansas

DataPath Inc., a Little Rock, Ark.-based provider of software solutions for employee benefits, announced it has been named as the Health Savings Account (HSA) Administrator for the State of Arkansas for the 2005 and 2006 benefit plan years.

DataPath was selected because of their responsiveness to the market, Web utilities for the account holder, and experience in the MSA marketplace, the company said.

Health Savings Accounts were recently enacted through the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

Effective Jan. 1, 2004, an individual who is covered by an HSA Qualified Health Plan can have a savings account where money can be deposited, accumulated and withdrawn tax-free. This new program empowers the individual with the ability to spend their money, as they need to, or retain and invest their deposit for future medical expenses.

An HSA is very similar to an individual’s savings account, housed at their local bank; however, disbursements can be taken at any time for any qualified medical expense tax-free.

DataPath will be providing administration on a group level for the new benefit.

Enrollment for the Public School Employees will be throughout the month of August and the State Employee will enroll in October. “We are excited about this opportunity to work with the State of Arkansas,” said John Robbins, Sr., president of DataPath. “This type of health plan can save from 15 to 25 percent on monthly premiums and provides the employee an opportunity to save even more because the contributions are tax-free. The real power of an HSA is in the tax savings.”

For more information on Health Savings Accounts and the Arkansas plan, contact DataPath at (501) 296-9990, or call Benjamin Lewis of Perception Inc. at (301) 963-7555.