Utah is site of specialty: Blue Healthcare Bank

SANDY — Utah is now a focal point for a new breed of specialty banking that is the product of ongoing shifts in the health-care industry.

Chicago-based BlueCross and BlueShield Association, a network of 39 independent and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, launched the Blue Healthcare Bank Tuesday during a gathering of banking officials and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. From its new office space in Sandy, the bank will add a third major component to the companies' network of health insurance and health-care providers.

The federally chartered bank will exist specifically to handle tax-free health care savings accounts and spending plans: flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements.

"We have 98 million customers across America," said Scott P. Serota, president and chief executive officer of BlueCross BlueShield Association. "The bank is exclusively devoted to helping customers manage their health-care expenses."

A staff of 24 employees is expected to grow to about 50 at the Sandy headquarters as more of the 33 BlueCross BlueShield companies that have invested in the bank incorporate their operations. The Sandy office is expected to be the bank's only bricks-and-mortar operation, with all customer transactions with the bank taking place over the phone or online.

Regence Blue Cross BlueShield, which operates in Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, has 400,000 customers in Utah, said D. Scott Ideson, president of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah. Customers who choose to use the bank will will establish tax-free health care savings accounts they or their employers contribute to. The customers will be issued debit cards that allow them to draw on the accounts to pay for doctor visits and other medical services.

Customers can also use the bank's investment options to build funds for future medical needs, he said.

Blue Healthcare Bank initially will grow its operations from within the BlueCross BlueShield insurance customer base. But the health care banking operation is expected to spread as the industry continues to shift toward customer-driven health plans, said Robert C. Gross, the bank's president and chief executive officer.

The Treasury Department estimates 40 million to 45 million Americans will be enrolled in health-savings-accounts-eligible insurance plans by 2010, according to BlueCross BlueShield.