Health insurers reinvent themselves as money managers

Insurers are moving away from their traditional role of pooling health risks and are reinventing themselves as money managers: providers of financial vehicles through which consumers pay for their own healthcare. Among the signs of the change is the growth in health savings accounts, which allow individuals and families to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses from tax-exempt savings. As with individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans, the money in HSAs tends to sit for long periods and can be invested in mutual funds and securities.