Products & Services

Blue Priority^SM HSA

Small businesses are looking for a more cost-effective way to provide health insurance, and their employees want more choice and control over their health care. Wellmark's Blue Priority HSA solutions pair a Blue Select high-deductible health plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) to keep premiums lower and put employees in charge of their health care. They get a tax-free way to pay health care expenses and reliable protection against the impact of high-cost services.

How It Works
Blue Select HSA-qualified health plans get employees directly involved in paying for their health care services. These plans enable employees to open an HSA to save and pay for medical expenses — all tax-free. HSA dollars are used to help pay covered health care expenses until the deductible is met. The health plan takes care of covered medical expenses exceeding the deductible.

Employees have greater flexibility and discretion over how they use their health care benefits. They're able to choose in-network or out-of-network doctors for their care and decide when and where their health care dollars are spent. Taking advantage of The Blues^® extensive PPO network can help save them money.

Key Selling Points

• Money-saving alternative. A high-deductible health plan can substantially decrease plan premiums. Employers can contribute some or all of these savings to employees’ HSAs.
• Puts employees in charge of their health care. Employees gain more control over how they spend their health care dollars, and an incentive to use health care services wisely. Unused Blue Priority HSA dollars remain in the account from year-to-year and can grow through investment earnings.
• Tax advantages for employers and employees. Employer contributions to employees’ HSAs are tax-deductible*, and employee contributions to their HSAs may be made through pre-tax* payroll reductions.
• Network strength. With 99 percent of South Dakota physicians and 100 percent of the state’s hospitals participating in the Blue Select network, employees won’t have any trouble finding a network provider or facility.
• Coverage anywhere via BlueCard. If employees need care away from home, they're covered by the Blue Card network, with more than 6,000 hospitals and 635,000 doctors worldwide.

* State tax treatment may vary

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Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association doing business in Iowa and South Dakota. Blue Cross®, Blue Shield®, and the Cross® and Shield® symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an Association of Independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.