U.S. Preventive Medicine has signed participation agreements with CedarsSinai Health System and Scripps Center for Executive Health to become worldwide referral partners for members of The Prevention Plan. Under the agreement, both institutions will become participants in The Global Prevention Network, a select group of pre-eminent health care institutions with recognized research, preventive services, and executive health programs in the United States and internationally. Affiliates in The Global Prevention Network enable U.S. Preventive Medicine to provide both national and global prevention solutions for individuals, employers, and government entities, and serve as educational partners in U.S. Preventive Medicine’s international outreach efforts.
WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WlP) and RedBrick health have entered into a strategic collaboration to create a new, behavior-based wellness and incentive program for WellPoint’s affiliated health plans’ large employers and health plan customers. Through an upcoming pilot initiative, WellPoint plans to integrate customized solutions from RedBrick’s Health Earnings System with its health and wellness programs to optimize employee engagement, enhance program personalization, and link financial rewards to healthy behaviors. The collaboration with RedBrick Health highlights WellPoint’s commitment to simplifying the connection between health, care, and value by promoting value-based health care tailored to the financial and health needs of each member.
North Star Health recently signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement with Union HealthShare, an organization focused exclusively on the needs of Taft-Hartley organizations and public employees, representing approximately 17 million members. Union HealthShare will roll out North Star Health’s Lumina. Groups will have access to their health care cost data and the power to utilize the product’s predictive modeling capabilities, allowing unions to manage the effectiveness of their health care programs and achieve the same cost reductions that North Star Health’s current clients are realizing.
Consumer Health Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Millennium Trust Company, a custodial and administrative firm providing investment and health savings account solutions, to use BenefitSpan its HSA administration and CDHC service delivery platform. MTC will integrate and deploy BenefitSpan as its total HSA administration and health banking solution. CHT also has joined with My Wellchoice+, an emerging lifestyle improvement company, to provide third party administrators, payers, and financial institutions a one-stop destination for interactive fitness, nutrition, and emotional assistance programs as well as other wellness services.
TSYS Healthcare and Consumer Health Technologies Inc. have announced an agreement that extends streamlined payment solutions to consumers, enabling easier, more convenient, and cost effective health care purchases. TSYS Healthcare’s payment card solution offers end-to-end functionality with greater automation, refined reporting, and smoother reconciliation capabilities. The TSYS Healthcare system will be integrated into BenefitSpan, CHT’s award-winning total benefit administration platform for managing HRA, FSA, and HSA accounts.
U.S. Preventive Medicine announced that ed voyles Automotive Group now offers The Prevention Plan to its 340 employees. The Prevention Plan health management program is designed to help individuals determine their primary health risks and follow a customized plan to lower those risks and become healthier. Employees of Ed Voyles, based in Smyrna, GA, can access a personalized website to store medical information, complete educational health programs, receive reminders about needed screenings, track personal progress, and learn about work-related preventive benefits and incentives.
ConnectYourCare has entered into a strategic partnership with TPAA (Third Party Administrator Alliance), an alliance of the nation’s top independently owned third party administrators. Under this partnership, ConnectYourCare will offer health care account solutions to TPAA’s extensive network of TPAs. TPAA’s network will be able to leverage ConnectYourCare’s CDHC platform, which includes an online member portal, multi-purse health care payment card, and comprehensive employee communications.
Metlife, a leading provider of employee benefits that offers dental plan administration for more than 21 million people, has released “Elevating the Value of Dental Benefits Through Employee Communications,” a research study that provides insights into communications best practices that can directly impact a dental benefit plan’s success. Based on recent research conducted by MetLife to understand how employees make decisions about their dental benefits, the new resource is available at whymetlife.com/elevatingdental.
Standard Insurance Co., a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: SFG), has launched Your Choice Group Voluntary Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance. Available in most states, Your Choice offers employees traditional LTD features combined with certain Short Term Disability (STD) features. This flexible product allows employees to choose the coverage and features that best meet their personal income-protection needs. With Your Choice coverage, employees can select the features that best match their personal income-protection needs, including three available maximum benefit period options, six available accident/sickness benefit waiting periods, and monthly benefit amounts that can be selected in $100 increments.
The Commonwealth of Virginia renewed its dental insurance contract with Delta Dental of Virginia. Delta Dental will continue to provide insurance coverage for oral health care to more than 250,000 Virginia state employees and family members for an additional two years with an option to renew for an additional three years. Delta Dental was first selected to provide dental insurance coverage for Virginia’s state and local employees in 2003.
Consumer Health Technologies Inc. has partnered with Consult A Doctor, a provider of consumer-centric telemedicine services, that gives consumers unlimited access to licensed doctors via telephone and e-mail any time from any location without incurring copay costs. Consumer-centric services like telemedicine are a growing and dominant trend in health care as consumer behavior continues to shift toward self-serve practices with greater control.
Assurant Health and Patient Care have announced that all Assurant Health permanent policyholders have access to health care advocacy services from Patient Care at no additional cost to help them navigate through the health care system and become better health care consumers. In July 2008, Assurant Helth became the first national carrier to offer Patient Care for new individual and small group medical plans.