INScompanies Blog

Harvard Pilgrim once again is nation’s top-rated health plan for Member Satisfaction and Quality of Care

October 27, 2006

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is the #1 health plan in America again according to a joint ranking by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The November 6, 2006 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranks the nation’s best health plans and determined that Harvard Pilgrim continues to lead the country for member satisfaction and quality of care. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England, Harvard Pilgrim’s New Hampshire affiliate, is the #3 health plan in America and the top-ranked plan in the Granite State.

“We thank our members for the trust they place in us and we are honored to be named the #1 health plan in the country again. We are especially pleased that NCQA found our customer service performance to be best in the nation,” said Charles D. Baker, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. “We will continue to strive to provide our members, employers, brokers and provider partners with the simplest, fastest and most supportive health plan experience in the nation.”

The U.S. News & World Report/NCQA “America’s Best Health Plans” 2006* list is drawn from NCQA’s Quality Compass® 2006**, which publicly reports comparative results of more than 260 commercial health plans covering more than 70 million Americans. Health plans throughout the country were evaluated on issues such as access to care, prevention efforts, treatment of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and members were surveyed on their satisfaction to calculate an overall quality score.

“We believe that a well-informed consumer gets better health care and we have focused many of our quality efforts on educating our members so that they could be smarter, better health care consumers,” said Roberta Herman, MD, Harvard Pilgrim’s SVP and Chief Medical Officer. “We have also expanded our multi-state network of providers, which has given our members access to a large, high quality care delivery system no matter where they live. We thank our provider partners for helping us achieve this national recognition again.”

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is the only health plan to earn the nation’s top rating from NCQA three years in a row. In 2005, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care was named the #1 health plan in America, on U.S. News & World Report/NCQA “America’s Best Health Plan” list. In 2004, NCQA issued two “top ten” lists of the nation’s top-performing health plans in terms of quality of care and member satisfaction and Harvard Pilgrim achieved the unprecedented milestone by becoming the first health plan to be rated #1 for both Member Satisfaction and Effectiveness of Care****.

Harvard Pilgrim’s Medicare plan was named the #2 plan in the country for treating Medicare beneficiaries. 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 is the first health plan to achieve this distinction for HMO members in all three states.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is a not-for-profit health plan that provides a variety of insurance plan options and self-funding arrangements to more than 975,000 members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Harvard Pilgrim provides innovative approaches to health improvement and disease management, unique online tools that speed and simplify key transactions for employers and providers and personalized health support at www.harvardpilgrim.org.

* “America’s Best Health Plans” is a trademark of U.S. News & World Report

**The source for this data is Quality Compass® 2006 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.

*** The source for this data is Quality Compass® 2005 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.

**** The source for this data is Quality Compass® 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. 

May 2, 2006

(Wellesley, MA) Health Plans, Inc., a Harvard Pilgrim Health Care company, today announced the acquisition of the assets of Benefit Plan Management, Inc., a regional third party administrator (TPA) based in Norwell, Massachusetts. Benefit Plan Management, Inc. offers quality medical, dental and vision benefit plan administration and outstanding customer service to more than 30,000 members in Massachusetts.

“We are thrilled that the experienced professionals at Benefit Plan Management, Inc. will be joining our organization,” said Bill Breidenbach, President of Health Plans, Inc. “The acquisition of assets of Benefit Plan Management, Inc., a top-notch benefits administration firm, will further strengthen our ability to serve the many businesses that have chosen to self-insure and want custom-designed plans.”

Both Health Plans, Inc. and Benefit Plan Management, Inc. have been successful at swiftly developing customized products and services for businesses with as few as 70 employees to those that have well over 2,000 employees. Their TPA services include medical and dental claim processing for self-insured benefit plans, reinsurance coordination, self-insured short-term disability programs, case management services and flexible spending plans.

“It is important to offer employers the option of developing products and services for the growing self-insured market,” said Charles D. Baker, President and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim. “Adding to our roster of seasoned health insurance specialists, the expertise of the management team and employees of Benefit Plan Management will further enhance our capacity to offer a full range of health benefit options and solutions to employers of New England.”

Health Plans, Inc. is the largest TPA in New England and is a Harvard Pilgrim company.  Harvard Pilgrim and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide a variety of benefit options and funding arrangements in New England to approximately 955,000 members.  In addition, Harvard Pilgrim and its affiliates arrange for specialty pharmacy services to approximately 130,000 members.

“We are excited to join the team at Health Plans, Inc. and Harvard Pilgrim,” said Jack Keith, Jr., President of Benefit Plan Management, Inc. “Our clients will continue to receive the first-rate service they have come to expect from us, which will only be enhanced by Harvard Pilgrim’s and Health Plans, Inc.’s strong market recognition and commitment to customer service and operational excellence.”

Harvard Pilgrim is rated the #1 health plan in America for both member satisfaction and clinical quality, according to a joint ranking by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The October 10, 2005 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked, for the first time, the nation’s best health plans and determined that Harvard Pilgrim leads the country for member satisfaction and quality of care. This was the second year in a row that the NCQA determined that Harvard Pilgrim was the nation’s top-performing health plan in terms of quality of care and member satisfaction. 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. The PPO plan offered by Harvard Pilgrim in Massachusetts has been recognized for its commitment to excellence by the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Health Plan Program.SM 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.

* The source for this data is Quality Compass® 2005 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.

March 8, 2005

Regional third party administrator to become subsidiary

(Wellesley, Mass.) 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 www.harvardpilgrim.org.

* The source for this data is Quality Compass® 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.