UMBF UMB Financial Corporation

Because health savings accounts are attached to high-deductible health plans, employers find their low cost and high employee accountability attractive. But as employees begin to build their HSA balances, they may find that they do not have enough cash to cover large medical expenses. Employees are then left to figure out how they are going to pay for their expenses. Financial institutions are providing a line of credit solution that bridges the HSA cash flow gap. The line of credit helps employees absorb the cost of their high deductible. "Because lines of credit are so new to the industry, we haven't seen just how they'll affect participation in or acceptance of high-deductible health plans," said Dennis Triplett, president of UMB Healthcare Services, a division of UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UMBF). "What we do know, however, is that attaching credit lines helps make health care more user-friendly, accessible, flexible, convenient, and efficient for medical practitioners, insurance carriers, employers and employees. "When lines of credit are handled in an individually underwritten manner, employers and payers are relieved of the responsibility of determining credit limits and eligibility," added Triplett. "That removes them from the decidedly awkward position of denying credit to employees. And because each account is individually underwritten, employers hold no liability for their employee's ability to pay." UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UMBF) is a multi-bank holding company headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., offering complete banking and related financial services to both individual and business customers nationwide. Its banking subsidiaries own and operate 140 banking centers throughout Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Arizona. Subsidiaries of the holding company and the lead bank, UMB Bank, n.a., include an investment services group based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a trust management company in South Dakota, and single-purpose companies that deal with brokerage services, consulting services and insurance. UMB was named one of Business Week's "Web Smart 50" companies in 2005.