Health Insurance debit cards

Health insurance subscribers of UnitedHealth Group will soon receive patient ID cards that they can use as debit cards for medical expenses and that doctors can use to access patients' personal health information electronically.

The banking industry has seen health savings accounts as a way to add customers and expand services, arguing that the software currently used to process financial transactions can readily be tuned to handling health care claims. However, UnitedHealth established its own financial services group, Exante, in January 2002.

The new cards, which will carry the MasterCard logo, can be swiped like a credit card at a doctors' office or other certified health provider. But in addition to providing payment, the cards can be used to confirm eligibility for services and provide access to personal health information at the point of care. The cards should be broadly available early in 2007.