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Product
News
Items are listed in chronological order,
with the most recent appearing first.
(As of Oct. 19, 2009)
- Golden Rule Insurance Co., a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, says it has introduced two low-cost, short-term health insurance products in North Carolina and West Virginia. The Short Term Medical Plus and Short Term Medical Value plans are designed to bridge gaps in health insurance coverage. The short-term coverage is aimed at people who are between jobs but either don’t want to pay for COBRA coverage or aren’t eligible for the coverage. It also is an option for new graduates who are looking for work, students who have dropped off their parents` plans and new employees who are not yet covered by employer plans, the company says. Deductibles for the Medical Plus product range from $250 to $10,000, while the Medical Value plan has deductibles of between $250 and $5,000. The plans also offer discounts of up to 40% for services provided before the deductible is met. Enrollees are allowed to discontinue coverage without penalty and have the unused premium returned.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) says it has developed two new “health cards” that will be available for purchase at Winn Dixie grocery stores this month and at CVS/pharmacy stores in November across the state. The cards can be used for insurance and health care service discounts. The $59 “Gift of Health Care” card can be used to purchase BCBSF insurance plans. The “FamilyBlue Discount Card” will cost $19 and can be used for discounts on dental and vision care as well as prescriptions.
- Arcadian Health Plan, Inc. says it has launched new Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in select counties in California, Missouri, New Hampshire and Virginia, and has expanded existing markets in Maine and Texas. Arcadian says its sister organizations, which are expanding their presence in Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina and Oklahoma, have more than 46,000 MA enrollees in 15 states.
- Illinois-based Flexible Benefit Service Corp. this month said its health savings accounts (HSAs) will be available to employers that have coverage through one of four Blues plans operated by Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC). The FlexHSA Plan offers employers online access to coordinate employee HSA contributions, track enrollment rates and update employee information. HCSC operates Blues plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
- Capstone Benefit Advisors, an Indianapolis-based benefits consulting firm, says it has launched a Web-based service that helps employers, third-party administrators and insurance brokers comply with federal laws and regulations surrounding the administration of health and welfare plans for employees. Capstone says ComplianceDashboard.net will incorporate all new regulations that arise from health care reform into a “unified, user-friendly Web interface.”
(As of July 13, 2009)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s (BCBSM) DenteMax dental network leasing subsidiary has been acquired by Dental Network of America, LLC (DNoA), the insurer said this month. DenteMax provided the dental network to BCBSM, which it will continue to provide after the sale. BCBSM will continue to offer dental products and coverage. The Michigan Blues plan calls the deal a “strategic move” that will provide its members a more competitive dental product offering that will include a larger national dental network. The insurer says the dental network growth will be matched with a renewed emphasis by the company on integrating medical and dental benefits into an approach that takes advantage of the relationship between oral health and overall health. DNoA is a subsidiary of Health Care Service Corp., which operates Blues plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
- Small employers in Maryland will be able to obtain free preventive health services for their employees through a new suite of products launched by Aetna Inc., the insurer said last month. The plans are part of Aetna’s “Wellness on Us” program, which encourages members to take advantage of the screenings and other preventive services available through their coverage. Aetna says it will offer 27 HMO, PPO and point-of-service designs to small-group customers in the state. Many of the plans can be paired with a health savings account (HSA) or a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA). In 20 of the 27 plans, members will not be charged copayments when they visit the doctor for routine vision exams, physicals, well-child visits, gynecological exams and mammograms. Aetna says it provides health coverage to more than 525,000 members in Maryland.
- Qliance Medical Management, Inc., which operates “insurance-free” primary care clinics in Washington state, said July 7 that it has secured $4 million in venture-capital funding, led by Second Avenue Partners. The company had raised $3.5 million in an earlier round of financing. Rather than paying insurance premiums and copayments, Qliance says its patients pay monthly membership fees (between $39 and $79 based on age) that cover all direct care. Members have access to primary and preventive care for vaccinations, checkups, pneumonia, minor fractures, routine women’s health exams, and ongoing care for chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. Hospital inpatient servicescan be included for a slightly higher monthly membership fee, according to the company. Most Qliance members also have high-deductible commercial coverage to cover catastrophic events. The company says this strategy can save patients as much as 50% on premiums and out-of-pocket costs over more traditional managed care plans.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida says it has partnered with providers in five counties to offer its BlueSelect low-premium health plan. The product, aimed at the working uninsured and those who are at risk of becoming uninsured, was piloted in the Tampa area early this year. It is available for individuals and small employers. Monthly premiums range from $70 to $300. In addition, the plans offer discounts on programs and services such as weight and stress management, alternative medicine, and vision and hearing care.
- CIGNA Corp. has increased its use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to reach members. Late last month, the company posted a series of videos about exercise, healthy eating and stress on its own Web site as well as on YouTube. The insurance operator also has created a series of podcasts on a range of health and wellness topics. CIGNA says the videos and podcasts are part of its strategy to meet its customers “where they are.”
- UnitedHealth Group and Cisco Systems, Inc. have scheduled a joint press conference to announce “a major new health care initiative.” The event, scheduled for July 15 in Washington, D.C., will include a demonstration of new telehealth technology that United says will “dramatically enhance the way patients and physicians interact.” The health plan operator says it is making a significant investment in the technology, which it says will expand physicians’ reach into rural and other underserved areas.
(As of April 13, 2009)
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina and Palmetto
Primary Care Physicians will launch a year-long patient-centered "medical
home" pilot project that they say could become a model for South
Carolina. The project, unveiled April 6, will focus on diabetic
patients who are members of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina,
BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina and the State Health Plan.
The medical home concept places the primary care doctor in charge
of a team of caregivers (e.g., social workers, pharmacists, wellness
coordinators, nurses, disease managers and clinical diabetic educators)
all working together to proactively reach out and develop an individual
treatment plan for patients. Case managers, hired recently by Palmetto,
will help reduce gaps in care, such as missed appointments with specialists,
lack of transportation, and medication noncompliance, according to
a prepared statement. The project will use electronic medical records
to integrate information received from the health plan, case manager
and local emergency rooms. Palmetto also has created a portal on its
Web site where pilot participants can schedule an interactive "e-visit"
with their physicians, create their own personal health records, upload
and chart their own blood glucose results and pay their bills.
- Humana Inc. says its new HumanaOne product can help "fill
the gap" for people who temporarily lose their health coverage. The short-term medical coverage, the insurer says, is aimed
at students who are about to graduate; people who are between jobs;
part-time, temporary or seasonal employees; the unemployed and recent
retirees who are waiting for Medicare coverage to begin. The HumanaOne
product is initially being offered in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado,
Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin. Plan design varies
somewhat by state, Humana says. Coverage can run from 30 days to as
long as one year, depending on the state. The plans have a $2 million
maximum benefit and include prescription drug coverage. They do not
cover pre-existing conditions. Visit www.humana-one.com.
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is rolling out a pharmacy benefit program
to employers and health plans that it says will greatly simplify the
drug-pricing system and eliminate up to 20% of the waste in the current
pharmaceutical supply chain, according to AIS's Drug Benefit
News. Some industry observers say the new program could pressure
PBMs on pricing, but others are skeptical. The new offering stems
from a pilot program that Wal-Mart launched with Caterpillar Inc.
last September. A key feature of the program is the elimination of
the average wholesale price (AWP) methodology used by most PBMs in
contracts with clients, the companies have said. In place of AWP,
the program calculates drug costs based on the "real invoice
price" paid by Wal-Mart plus a percentage for overhead and profit
margin. One of the goals of the Wal-Mart/Caterpillar pilot was to
push Rx pricing transparency up the pharmaceutical supply chain to
the point of the manufacturer, and bypass many of the middlemen.
(As of March 23, 2009)
- Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) said
March 19 that it has expanded eligibility guidelines for its "Direct
Pay" plans. The insurer says the strategy will help people
who have extended a former employer's coverage through COBRA to enroll
in BCBSRI plans. Under the new guidelines, people who are covered
or eligible to be covered by COBRA, or who have exhausted their COBRA
eligibility, can enroll in one of BCBSRI's Direct Pay plans. The insurer
will allow people to switch coverage without medical underwriting
or waiting for the annual open-enrollment period. BCBSRI says the
new eligibility guidelines will provide additional options to individuals
who are not eligible for the recently enacted federal COBRA subsidy.
The insurer offers four health plans and a dental plan directly to
individuals and families.
- Aetna Inc. has added cost information for eight health care
professions and has expanded physician and facility cost and quality
information for four states as part of its Aetna Navigator transparency
tools. The professions for which cost information has been
added are audiologists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, optometrists,
physical therapists, podiatrists, speech pathologists and speech therapists.
Aetna also has added more cost and quality information for facilities
and providers in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
- MVP Health Care/Preferred Care and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield
say they will invite up to 20 internal medicine and family physicians
to participate in a three-year "medical home" project. In a medical home, physicians acquire new resources, such as the help
of a new care manager, to coordinate all of their patients' health
care needs as a way to optimize patients' health care throughout their
lifetime. The goal of the initiative is to enhance patient care, help
maintain or reduce health care costs and to improve physicians' job
satisfaction. The project will be conducted in a six-county area in
upstate New York. The initiative will cover the cost of hiring a care
manager to work with the physician to make sure patients are properly
managing their chronic conditions and don't have gaps in care. Up
to 20 physicians who already use electronic medical records will be
accepted into the initiative. They will receive a grant to cover their
startup costs and funds to cover the cost of a care manager. Physicians
also will be eligible to receive enhanced reimbursements.
- SureScripts-RxHub, which operates a large e-prescribing network,
has launched The E-Prescribing Resource Center, where doctors, pharmacists,
payers, hospitals, policymakers and software vendors can go to find
information and advice about e-prescribing. Some of the resources
featured on the new Web site include a place where you can enter your
ZIP code to find out what physicians and pharmacies e-prescribe in
your community; an area where you can view the latest state and national
data that track e-prescribing growth and read about progress at both
levels; and step-by-step guides on how to establish a connection to
the SureScripts network whether you are a technology vendor, physician,
payer or pharmacy.
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