WELLESLEY, Mass., March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care today announced the acquisition of Health Plans, Inc., a regional third party administrator (TPA) based in Westborough, Massachusetts. Health Plans, Inc. offers administrative and consulting services to health and benefit plan sponsors, including self-funded employers, associations of employers, and union-negotiated programs offered through Taft-Hartley arrangements. Approximately 81,000 members receive health, dental and short-term disability benefits through self-insured plans administered by Health Plans, Inc., primarily in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.
"Having Health Plans, Inc. as a subsidiary will enhance our capacity to offer a full range of health benefit options and solutions to employers in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire," said Charles D. Baker, president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim. "We believe that adding their expertise in developing products and services for the self-insured market to Harvard Pilgrim's top- rated performance in clinical quality and service will be a winning combination."
Harvard Pilgrim's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Vin Capozzi, added, "This is a great fit that will strengthen our ability to serve those businesses that have chosen to self-insure and that want custom-designed plans or separately priced services."
Health Plans, Inc. has been especially successful at developing products and services for businesses with as few as 70 employees to those that have well over 1,000 employees. Their TPA services include medical and dental claim processing for self-insured benefit plans, reinsurance coordination, self-insured short-term disability programs, Care Management Services, and flexible spending plans. Health Plans, Inc. will be a wholly owned subsidiary and will continue to operate as a separate entity.
"With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Health Plans has proven itself to be a leader in the industry, committed to providing top-flight service, state-of-the-art technology and innovative products," said Bill Breidenbach, President of Health Plans, Inc. "Clearly though, the TPA business is an industry that is changing. With Harvard Pilgrim's strong market recognition and commitment to customer service and operational excellence, I believe that this partnership will position us to be able to continue to evolve and meet the current and future needs of our clients."
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care provides a variety of benefit options and funding arrangements in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. With the addition of Health Plans, Inc., Harvard Pilgrim and its affiliates serve more than 900,000 members. Harvard Pilgrim is rated the #1 health plan in America for both member satisfaction and clinical quality, according to The State of Health Care Quality 2004, a comprehensive report issued by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. J.D. Power and Associates has also recognized Harvard Pilgrim as a Distinguished Health Plan for providing "An Outstanding Member Experience" to its HMO members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine and its PPO members in Massachusetts. Harvard Pilgrim provides innovative approaches to health improvement and disease management, unique online tools that speed and simplify key transactions for employers, brokers and providers and personalized health support at http://www.harvardpilgrim.org/.
* The source for this data is Quality Compass(R) 2004 and is used with the permission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Quality Compass is a registered trademark of NCQA. NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.
Contact: Sharon Torgerson (617) 509-7458 Sharon_Torgerson@hphc.org
Harvard Pilgrim Health CareCONTACT: Sharon Torgerson of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, +1-617-509-7458, Sharon_Torgerson@hphc.org
Web site: http://www.harvardpilgrim.org/