“In a consumer-directed world, I need tools,” Brown said. In fact, 56 percent of employees at each company who were offered a consumer-driven plan for 2005 enrolled in it, up from 50 percent last year, according to Hewitt Associates, which administers benefits for more than 18 million workers and their families. The consumer-driven model, which shifts to workers more of the costs and responsibility to manage and compare health care, has been gaining traction with employers. Health savings accounts are investment vehicles designed to shelter health expenses from taxes when paired with a high-deductible insurance policy that puts the employee on the hook for the first $1,000 or $2,000 of expenses, depending on family status. “The timing is perfect because we’re entering an era of consumer-directed health plans where consumers are expected to share a larger burden through (health savings accounts) and as a result become smart shoppers … and try to understand the value they’re getting from the health system,” Brown said. “The consumer still lives in a totally paper world.” The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, nudged the industry toward automating the process of filing and paying claims, but it benefited businesses, he said.
Many people still operate with manila folders and have to photocopy and send bills in wait to receive the explanation of benefits, or EOB maintain files of claims submitted but not yet reimbursed and otherwise track billing activities, he said.īrown was enthusiastic about Quicken’s new product, though he hasn’t yet seen or tried it. health-care information technology up to speed, consumers remain decidedly low-tech – and not by choice, said Eric Brown, vice president and research director for Forrester Research. “Personal finances are all about accounts and spending and transactions, and medical expenses are about people.”ĭespite a decade-long focus on getting U.S. “People think about their medical expenses differently than they do their personal finances,” Rogers said.
Quicken medical expense manager password software#
(Quicken’s personal-finance software is a separate enterprise that doesn’t integrate with the Medical Expense Manager for those who have more than one Intuit product, she said.) It’s a standalone product designed to aid people with a relatively large number of medical expenses, such as families with young children, people with chronic conditions, households with multiple insurers and seniors with supplemental Medicare policies, said Lisa Rogers, Intuit’s category manager for health care. You can sort by any field and toggle between billing notes and medical notes, or flexible-spending account entries and eligible expenses for tax deductions, for example. In using Quicken Medical Expense Manager, the first thing that pops up is a log for each family member’s expenses, including pets if you wish to include them.
Its move may prompt other software makers to develop competing products. Until now, the national push for automated, paperless health-care billing and record-keeping has largely focused on big entities such as hospitals and insurers, leaving consumers out of the advances.īut Intuit, maker of personal-finance and tax-preparation software Quicken and TurboTax, has come up with a new program to manage medical bills and statements, track progress toward insurance deductibles, find and fix errors, and even dispute claims. SAN FRANCISCO – Consumers facing the often overwhelming task of staying on top of health-care bills, claims and paperwork now have an electronic option that may ease the burden.
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