News Release
Humana, BHCGSW unveil health plan
Program designed to control costs, transform Southeast Wisconsin’s health care market
MILWAUKEE, WI - Jun 17, 2005 - The Business Health Care Group of Southeast Wisconsin (BHCGSW) and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today announced details of a new health insurance plan offering for BHCGSW member companies, designed to control health care cost trend for employers and their employees by promoting consumer engagement, open access to provider price and performance information, and improved efficiency and accountability in the delivery of health care services.
According to the BHCGSW, companies representing approximately 75,000 Southeast Wisconsin consumers are now in the process of transitioning their health benefits to Humana with the intent of offering the new program in 2006, dramatically changing the local health care business environment. Many of the largest and most prominent employers in Southeast Wisconsin belong to BHCGSW and have agreed to collectively purchase health coverage as part of a long-term strategy to contain health care cost growth.
"This is part of the business community's unified strategy to bring Southeast Wisconsin health care costs in line with the rest of the Midwest, whereas now they are significantly higher," said Dianne Kiehl, executive director, Business Health Care Group of Southeast Wisconsin. "No single company can move the market - it has to be a partnership where consumers, employers and providers all are accountable for their role in health care costs."
Humana, which developed the plan offering with input and direction from the BHCGSW, expects double-digit health care cost savings compared to traditional PPO health plans in the program’s first year. The program allows BHCGSW member companies to offer a range of PPO-style benefits coupled with access to Humana's high performance network of health care providers, called Humana Preferred PPO, including many of the area's most efficient physicians and well-known hospitals.
The product offers lower costs by including participating physicians who have demonstrated patient-centered care and have shown the ability to guide members through treatment using resources most efficiently. BHCGSW also sought to leverage the collective purchasing power of its membership by seeking competitive pricing. In addition to the high performance network, Humana will provide a variety of care management programs, including Humana's innovative Personal Nurse program, as well as online information to help consumers make educated health care buying decisions.
"Humana shares the BHCGSW's vision for a consumer-centered health care system that fosters efficiency, improved outcomes and a better overall health plan experience," said Larry Rambo, chief executive officer of Humana's Wisconsin and Michigan markets. "Despite the best of efforts and intentions, Southeast Wisconsin's health care cost puzzle remains unsolved. It's clearly time for innovative ideas and a different approach for the sake of our region's economic future. With the BHCGSW plan offering, we believe we're delivering on that vision."
Consumers can receive the highest level of benefits by selecting one of more than 4,000 physicians and 26 area hospitals participating in Humana's high performance network, including physicians or facilities affiliated with the following health care systems: Advanced HealthCare, Aurora HealthCare & Medical Group, Beloit Hospital and Physician Group, Columbia St. Mary's Hospital and Physician Group, Children's Hospital and Medical Group, Fort Atkinson Hospital and Physicians, Froedtert Hospital & Community Health, Kenosha Physicians Network, Medical Associates, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Mercy Health System – Janesville, ProHealth Care, Watertown Hospital and Physician Group. Consumers using the program will also have out-of-network coverage for non-participating health care providers.
"We are enthusiastic about the promise of this unique approach," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of Manpower Inc., a BHCGSW member company. "BHCGSW programs are helping us to engage employees in being active health care consumers and increase their awareness of the cost issues we face. This innovative offering provides a wide array of choices and significant value for our employees and their families, while addressing the runaway health care cost issue facing us and other businesses in Southeast Wisconsin."
One of the early members of the BHCGSW, Don H. Davis, Jr., chairman emeritus, Rockwell Automation, is pleased with the progress the group has made. "We're beginning to see the impact of what can happen when businesses stand together to address the health care cost issue critical to all of us," Davis said. "Today's announcement completes the first phase of our efforts, and we plan to move forward in cooperation with our medical providers to meet the goal of bringing Southeast Wisconsin health care costs in line with the rest of the Midwest."
"The BHCGSW is deeply committed to working closely with the medical community to keep physicians informed about our activities," Kiehl said, adding that Humana and BHCGSW have already held several informational briefings for physicians to acquaint them with provider selection process. The two organizations also intend to provide ongoing feedback to physicians regarding their practice efficiency, as well as effectiveness information as it becomes available.
The BHCGSW plan offering will be available exclusively to BHCGSW member companies for effective dates beginning January 1, 2006. The BHCGSW welcomes the addition of other Southeast Wisconsin employers.
About BHCGSW
The Business Health Care Group of Southeast Wisconsin (BHCGSW) was launched in January 2003 to explore alternatives to contain health care costs in the region through consumer-driven efforts, care management programs and more. Today, BHCGSW represents a total of 24 voting members, including individual companies and sponsoring business organizations. BHCGSW member companies include large and small employers representing more than 130,000 health care consumers in Southeast Wisconsin.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, with approximately 7 million medical members. Humana offers a diversified portfolio of health insurance products and related services – through traditional and consumer-choice plans - to employer groups, government-sponsored plans, and individuals.
Over its 44-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio. More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:
Annual report to stockholders;
Securities and Exchange Commission filings;
Most recent investor conference presentation;
Quarterly earnings news releases;
Replay of most recent earnings release conference call;
Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates, times, and access number, as well as planned interaction with institutional investors);
Corporate Governance Information.
Cautionary Statement
The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Humana's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Dianne Kiehl
BHCGSW
VOICE: 414-531-3339
EMAIL: bhcgsw@wi.rr.com
Mark Mathis
Humana Corporate Communications
VOICE: 312-441-5010
EMAIL: mmathis@humana.com
Chambers to join business health care group
The Business Journal of Milwaukee - August 5, 2005by Julie Sneider
Nine southeast Wisconsin chambers of commerce have formed a regional group so they can join the Business Health Care Group of Southeast Wisconsin.
The Regional Chamber Coalition consists of the Brookfield, Grafton, Hartford, Menomonee Falls, Mequon-Thiensville, Oconomowoc, Sussex, West Bend and West Suburban chambers of commerce.
Combined, the chambers represent more than 3,500 businesses and 16,000 health care consumers.
The Business Health Care Group, formed in 2003 to control rising health care costs, consists of more than 20 major Milwaukee-area employers and other employer organizations. Earlier this year, the group hired Humana Inc., a Milwaukee insurance company, to organize the business group's provider network and process claims for self-insured employers.
In June, Humana and the Business Health Care Group unveiled details of a new health insurance plan for the health care group's members. The plan includes a range of preferred-provider options, care management programs and educational information to help health care consumers make cost-effective choices when seeking medical care.
The plan will be available to employers starting in 2006.
The regional chambers formed a single coalition to link with the larger Business Health Care Group so that small businesses have access to less expensive health insurance. They also can be part of a broader effort to lower health care costs across southeast Wisconsin, chamber representatives said. In addition, joining as a coalition allows chambers to share the cost of Business Health Care Group's membership fees.
"We're trying to be proactive with our members," said Sharon Scaccia, executive director of the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce, which has its office in Wauwatosa.
Scaccia said the new chamber coalition is unlike the chamber health care coalitions of the 1990s. In those days, many chambers formed pacts through which they bought health insurance, only to get dropped by insurance companies when the contracts expired.
"Things have changed over the years," Scaccia said. "The reason our chambers came together is that the Business Health Care Group is not only offering health insurance, they are looking at ways to reduce health care costs."
Joining the larger Business Health Care Group means small employers can offer a "consumer-driven health plan" at more competitive insurance rates, Phil Strosahl, a certified public accountant and a board member of the Menomonee Falls Chamber of Commerce, said in a press release.
The chambers will host regional meetings to explain the new plan to their members starting in September.
