County approves $1,000 HSA incentive for employees who use Wellbridge; commissioners asked to appoint HIPAA officer

Boone County approved a plan to contribute $1,000 to an employee’s HSA each time the employee voluntarily uses Wellbridge Surgery Center for outpatient procedures, replacing a previously proposed deductible-forgiveness incentive that staff said would not comply with federal rules.

Bill Sylvester, health insurance broker with Apex Benefits, told the group the insurance committee proposed the HSA contribution as a compliant incentive: "we incentivize using Wellbridge by giving the member that utilizes Wellbridge a $1,000 contribution into their HSA account every time they use it," he said. Sylvester and other presenters said the net effect still produces cost savings because Wellbridge’s facility charges for outpatient procedures are significantly lower than hospital outpatient rates; Sylvester said the saving from using Wellbridge for a single surgery can be five figures.

Commissioners and staff also discussed how to handle the HIPAA/privacy requirements that come with processing a contribution tied to an individual’s use of the facility. Staff and the insurance broker told the group that a HIPAA officer (often a designated county employee such as an HR director, payroll staff, deputy auditor or auditor) would need limited access to personal health information for the narrow purpose of validating eligibility and issuing the HSA contribution. Meeting participants agreed the incentive approval should be subject to the county appointing a HIPAA officer or otherwise arranging lawful access for the administrative task.

A motion was made and seconded to adopt the HSA-contribution incentive (in lieu of forgiving deductibles) and to recommend that the county commissioners appoint a HIPAA officer (the transcript records the motion language but does not list mover/second by full name). The motion was approved by voice vote; those present answered “aye.”