Optima Health has formed a partnership with Choice Care Card to administer the Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) component of its new Optima Design plans.

The Virginia Beach, Va., insurer expects to roll out its Optima Design plans in the second quarter, according to a prepared statement from the insurer. These new health plans, coupled with an HRA, are part of Optima’s suite of consumer-directed health plans and are an addition to those plans.

The company is hoping to tap into the increasing popularity of HRAs, as employers continue to seek new ways to reduce healthcare costs without sacrificing health benefits.

“We anticipate tremendous interest by employers and employees for the new suite of products we will be offering this year,” said John DeGruttola, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Optima Health. “The benefits and tax advantages of an HRA are very appealing, especially in the current economic climate.”

Choice Care Card is an eight-year veteran of HRA administration, and the first company to have a debit-card based HRA, according to the statement.  Choice Care Card administers 2,300 groups and 51,000 accounts of HRA business in the U.S.

In early 2008, Optima Health introduced consumer-directed health plans called Optima Equity, which are IRS qualified high deductible health plans designed to be coupled with a Health Savings Account (HSA).

This story originally appeared in the April 2009 print edition of Insurance & Financial Advisor.