What roles have you held in the healthcare space?  

Early in my career, I joined the ADP team where I stayed for 21 years. It was great to understand the importance of delivering on expectations, to implementing payroll services in the first year, to really learning the business from a technical perspective before moving into a sales role. I then spent eight years in the benefits administration business working for Benefitfocus as Director of Enterprise Sales, before spending the last two years as SVP of Sales at HSA Bank. 

Why do you like working at Amino?

The opportunity at Amino is an amazing triangulation of my career in enterprise sales, healthcare benefits, and HSAs. I'm passionate about the mission to help solve healthcare issues by providing consumers with an amazing way to find high-quality, low-cost, in-network healthcare at safe facilities. Everyday I come to work energized, knowing we are creating a new way to think about healthcare as we forge a new category of financial wellness: healthcare financial wellness. Amino’s success stems from an understanding that true healthcare financial wellness can only be accomplished if every corner of a healthcare ecosystem is built to guide employees toward high-value, unbiased care.

What are some new trends with HSAs?

A health savings account allows account owners to pay for current health care expenses and save for those in the future. The main advantage is that contributions are tax-deductible, and can be made through a payroll deduction. Many consumers still believe that an HSA is an annual use it or lose it account like an FSA — and that is not the case. So for those that don't understand the triple tax advantage, here some things to keep in mind:

1. The contribution is tax free.
2. Your assets can grow in the account without being taxed.
3. You can withdraw the money at any time. And with eligible expenses tax free, it can be a better option than a 401k for retirement.

What makes Amino’s HSA different? 

Today’s economy is strong and vibrant. Despite this, the results of PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey are less than encouraging. According to the data, the workforce today is more stressed about their finances than ever before, and workplace financial wellness programs do not seem to be helping. The discussion around HSAs is largely related to the great tax savings and opportunity to save for retirement. However, the current options on the market fail to recognize the need to help employees better understand how to properly use their benefits. In PwC’s survey, employees ranked "education" and "guidance" as the third most important thing when it came to healthcare benefits specifically.

Benefits can be difficult to understand, so you need to help your employees figure out how to get the most out of their existing benefits. This could take shape in a variety of ways. At Amino, we recognize this need, and design our offering to put HSAs and guidance together.

Amino combines a concierge of 12 billion claims in a qualified search engine, and an Amino HSA Visa Debit Card. These two products really speak to each other and allow someone to engage with their savings and expenditures in a way they can't with a simple HSA. Amino's sign up rate is more than double other vendors. And while care search rates fall below 10% on other platforms, Amino sees almost 40%. Amino is helping employees save valuable pre-tax dollars, and grow them tax free for future medical expenses.

Where do you see Amino’s roadmap going?

The excitement in the market regarding healthcare financial wellness is propelling our design, product, and engineering work. What that means is not only do we recognize the shifting requirement for solutions to deliver exceptional consumer experiences, but we live and breath it as it drives everything we do at Amino. 

Amino’s success stems from an understanding that true healthcare financial wellness can only be accomplished if every corner of a healthcare ecosystem is built to guide employees toward high-value, unbiased care.

On a similar trajectory, I'm a cyclist, and most recently completed the Seattle to Portland (STP) group ride for the third time. It was a thrill to cover the 200+ miles in two days, but like healthcare, it would not have been possible had I traveled this distance alone. In fact, riding in a pace line allows the group to increase speed and perform better. Ultimately, this is what Amino wants to accomplish. We want to work with employers and healthcare entities so that we all save money and time, while improving health.

In many ways, I feel it's Amino’s time at the front of the pack with healthcare financial wellness as we drive education on how to navigate the complex healthcare landscape with transparency, guidance, and education.

Connect with Scott Kiever on LinkedIn