SOURCE: Canopy Financial

 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - March 24, 2009) - Canopy Financial, a pioneer in innovative healthcare banking technology solutions that connect healthcare and financial services, announced today the results of its Health Savings Account (HSA) Market Report for Q4'08. Canopy, whose industry leading HealthDirect® and CareGain® platforms serve as the core consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) account management and administration backend for some of the largest banks and health plans respectively, collects and aggregates a wide range of statistics related to actual HSA usage published quarterly. The release of Canopy's Q4'08 HSA Market Report completes four full quarters of published data. According to Canopy's cumulative data, HSA account balances grew in 2008, despite the economic downturn, and employee contributions to HSAs significantly outpaced employer contributions. Moreover, transfers into health investment accounts (HIAs) were double and triple transfers out of HIAs throughout the year. Available immediately, the report can be downloaded at www.canopyfi.com/hsametrics.htm.

"What we've seen throughout 2008 is that consumers who select HSAs to manage their healthcare spending are not simply using these accounts to pay for their immediate healthcare needs. They are also funding their HSAs above and beyond their employer contributions and using them as long term savings and investment vehicles," said Vik Kashyap, CEO of Canopy.

Key findings for 2008 also showed:

--  Strong growth of HIA balances through Q1'08 and Q2'08, followed by
    sharp declines in the wake of the U.S. financial crisis and market downturn
--  Average High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) deductibles remained
    relatively flat
--  Card payments consistently lagged behind every other spend category,
    with the majority of spend out of HSAs being derived from bill payments and
    reimbursements
--  Dental services, prescription medicine, and hospital related
    expenditures comprised the largest categories of consumer sub-deductible
    spending (ie. spending paid out-of-pocket, prior to an HDHP deductible
    being reached).
    

About Canopy Financial

Canopy Financial provides innovative technology solutions that connect healthcare and financial services. Serving some of the world's largest healthcare and financial institutions, Canopy powers the development and delivery of complete healthcare banking services for both consumers and businesses. Founded in 2004, Canopy maintains offices in San Francisco, CA, Chicago, IL, and Plainsboro, NJ. For more information, please visit our web site at www.canopyfi.com or call 1-866-960-4700.