Category Archives: Value-Based Benefits

News, press releases and opinions concerning value-based benefits and value-based benefits plan designs (VBBD)

May 09

Hospital Costs Jump With Changes In Geography Across LA County

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May 8, 2013 | TARZANA (CBSLA.com)

A new report from the federal government details how a few miles can make a drastic difference on the cost of a simple procedure and CBS2 reveals Los Angeles-area hospitals vary as much as $37,690 for the same treatment.

The Department of Health & Human Services went public with the new data Wednesday. CBS2′S Amy Johnson has uncovered how much health care costs can jump depending on which facility patients seek treatment in Los Angeles County.

Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles will bill $50,823 after treating a patient suffering from chest pains. However, the same treatment will cost $23,308 at Silver Lake Medical Center and $13,133 at Sherman Oaks Hospital.

A patient going to the hospital for respiratory infections and inflammation will pay $18,456 at Keck Hospital of USC, $14,178 at Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles and $9,047 at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.

Residents say the difference in the cost of procedures within just a few miles is eye-opening and unfair.

“Every hospital has their own different prices. It’s a shame but that’s how it is,” Tarzana resident Lee Ohevzion said.

“If you’re sick and you come in like you need [care] ASAP you’re not gonna, like, start shopping.”

But some residents are doing just that. Another woman admitted she shopped around for a hospital to deliver her baby.

“I knew I needed to with my insurance,” she said. “I think that’s important to know how much you’re paying for things.”

The Department of Health & Human Services released Wednesday details about how much medical bills can vary depending on locale.

The report included cost estimates for Medicare patients at 3,000 health care facilities around the country. It focused on costs for 100 of the most frequently billed hospital discharges, including heart failure, pneumonia, chest pain, diabetes and urinary tract infections.

The government agency said releasing the report is part of an attempt to make the health care system more affordable and accountable.

Los Angeles County Medical Association President Dr. Samuel Fink disagrees.

“I believe that this report is an attempt to demonize hospitals, and they don’t need that. Hospitals are struggling to stay afloat,” he said.

“It really doesn’t matter what the hospital charges unless a patient doesn’t have insurance.”

Dr. Fink said uninsured patients can negotiate their charges and that there are some valid reasons why some hospitals charge more, such as how ill their patients are and whether or not the institution is a teaching hospital.

Still, the Obama Administration said it has made $87 million available to states to bolster efforts for increased transparency in the health care system.

“Currently, consumers don’t know what a hospital is charging them or their insurance company for a given procedure, like a knee replacement, or how much of a price difference there is at different hospitals, even within the same city,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CBS News.

“This data and new data centers will help fill that gap.”

The Department of Health & Human Services report is available at CMS.gov.

 

May 07

California bill puts spotlight on wellness programs

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May 6, 2013 | by Allison Bell, LifeHealthPro

The simmering battle over wellness programs is starting to boil over in California.

Members of the California Senate Health Committee recently voted 5-2 to pass Senate Bill 189, a bill that would put new restrictions on employer-sponsored wellness programs.

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, would prohibit a wellness program from rewarding participants with a discount or rebate involving a premium, deductible, co-payment or coinsurance amount.

Any wellness program would have to be voluntary and offered to all similarly situated individuals, and a program could not base the receipt of a reward on a health status factor.

A wellness program could provide rewards based on an individual’s membership in a fitness center, an individual’s participation in a diagnostic testing program, or attendance at a periodic health education seminar, as long as the seminar “is not related to a particular health condition or health status factor.”

Monning said RAND Corp. analysts found little evidence on whether wellness programs work or whether they lead to unintended outcomes, such as discrimination against employees “based on their health or health behaviors.”

The bill would apply only to new wellness programs sold after the bill was enacted, not to wellness programs that were already in force.

 The provisions in the bill would expire in 2020.

The drafters of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) sparked a controversy about wellness programs by including a wellness program pricing provision in the rules restricting health carriers’ ability to consider individuals’ health status when setting rates. Under PPACA, carriers cannot consider individuals’ health status when setting rates, but carriers can use incentives related to wellness programs to vary rates by as much as 50 percent.

Managers of the District of Columbia’s PPACA health insurance exchange program recently decided to prohibit carriers from charging enrollees who use tobacco more for coverage.

D.C. exchange program managers noted that the American Cancer Association and the American Lung Association had opposed a tobacco-use surcharge, arguing that poor people are more likely than other people to use tobacco, and that a tobacco surcharge could make health insurance coverage unaffordable for the low-income people who most need health insurance and most need help from doctors with giving up tobacco.

In California, supporters of S.B. 189 have included the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Consumers Union.

Opponents have included the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies, the California Association of Health Plans, the California Association of Health Underwriters, and general business groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Sean Penwell, chief medical officer at SeeChange Health Insurance, a health insurer that promotes “value-based insurance design” (VBID) plans, has lobbied against S.B. 189.

RAND researchers found no evidence that wellness programs lead to discrimination, and they have found evidence that the programs can generate $3 in savings for every $1 invested, Penwell told lawmakers at a hearing, according to a written version of his testimony.

“SeeChange Health launched in California because we viewed the state as hospitable to innovation and committed to improving the health of its citizens,” Penwell said.  “Passage of S.B. 189 would prove we were wrong on both counts.”

 

May 06

SeeChange Health Warns Against Legislation That Will Stifle Innovation and Undermine Efforts to Improve Californians’ Health

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SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Legislation aimed at outlawing health insurance plans from rewarding consumers with lower premiums or reduce out-of-pocket expenses for engaging in wellness programs was condemned today for “stifling innovation by depriving state residents of methods proven to improve health and save lives” by Dr. Sean Penwell, chief medical officer of SeeChange Health.

The legislation, Senate Bill 189, introduced by State Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), passed out of the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday. Proponents of the bill claim financial rewards offered by some wellness and preventive programs discriminate against the poor and shifts costs from healthy to less healthy insureds.

In his testimony before the Senate Health Committee, Dr. Penwell disputed this conclusion citing a RAND Corporation study sponsored by the Obama Administration that found no evidence of such discrimination. “What that study did find is that for every dollar spent on a wellness program, $3.00 in savings was generated for both direct medical costs and productivity,” Dr. Penwell noted.

Even more important, these wellness programs improve the quality of life enjoyed by participants and saves lives. Dr. Penwell reported on the experience of a San Diego man, “a body builder and the picture of perfect health” who participated in a wellness program included in his SeeChange Health Insurance policy. The screening discovered a previously undiagnosed cancer. The early detection allowed for less intrusive treatment than would have otherwise been the case and he is doing well. “If Senate Bill 189 had been law last year,” Dr. Penwell warned, “this individual would likely be dead.”

Describing the legislation as not only misguided, but unnecessary, Dr. Penwell reminded Health Committee members that the Obama Administration was putting forward regulations addressing the same concerns underlying SB 189, “but they’re doing so in a responsible, effective way by implementing well thought-out safeguards.” He urged the lawmakers to study the impact and effectiveness of the federal regulations before going beyond them and forcing the withdrawal of meaningful preventive care programs.

Dr. Penwell stated that wellness programs that provide financial rewards are not only beneficial, they’re popular. He noted that SeeChange Health Insurance is the fastest-growing provider of health insurance for small and mid-size companies in California. “SeeChange Health launched in California because we viewed the state as hospitable to innovation and committed to improving the health of its citizens. Passage of SB 189 would prove we were wrong on both counts.”

About SeeChange Health

SeeChange Health is the leader in value-based benefit design solutions for employers – delivering plans and services to create better health and quality of life for employees, increase workforce productivity and lower their health care costs for employers. SeeChange Health’s unique approach encourages individuals to play an active role in the management of their own health to prevent, detect and treat today’s most serious health conditions. SeeChange Health Insurance provides value-based benefit plans to fully insured small and mid-size businesses in California and Colorado. SeeChange Health Solutions provides value-based benefit platforms and services to self-insured companies and carriers. Fast Company magazine acknowledged the power of SeeChange Health’s approach to wellness in naming it one of the World’s Top Most Innovative Companies in February 2013.

For more information, please go to www.SeeChangeHealth.com.

Contact: Susan Cotton
 (818) 824-9164 
Email

Apr 18

Psilos Spells Out Hot Areas for Health Technology Investing

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April 17, 2013 | by Wade Roush, Xconomy San Francisco

The water’s fine in the healthcare-and-technology market, and institutional investors should come on in. That’s the message from Psilos Group, a healthcare-focused venture firm based in New York City and Corte Madera, CA, in an outlook report on healthcare economics released today.

It’s the fifth annual edition of the report, and it points to four categories where the firm thinks venture investors and their limited partners should be looking for new opportunities: the rise of private health exchanges, new insurance programs designed to appeal directly to consumers, technologies for making healthcare organizations more efficient, and tools that eliminate error and waste in hospitals.

“When we began this in 2008, a lot of people didn’t really understand what was going on in the healthcare space, or what the opportunities were going to be, or why we have a philsophy of investing in products that reduce costs and improve quality,” says Al Waxman, co-founder and senior managing member at Psilos. “In fact, a number of people looked at me quizzically and said, ‘Yeah, I believe in the Easter Bunny too.’ But today, it’s almost conventional wisdom that this is a great place to invest.”

Psilos was founded in 1998, has $600 million under management, and is investing out of its third fund. It’s one of a small handful of venture firms specifically focused on the healthcare arena, which hasn’t traditionally been seen as a home for fast-growing companies.

But Psilos has had some big exits recently, notably the $435 million acquisition last May of Extend Health, a private Medicare exchange based in Richardson, TX, by professional services company Towers Watson. The firm is also a backer of SeeChange Health, a Studio City, CA-based provider of “value-based” health insurance plans that seek to reduce costs for employers by offering patients preventative services that could reduce the rate of chronic, expensive diseases like diabetes.

In the report, Psilos partners predict that the reforms built into the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, will prompt the creation of many more companies like Extend and SeeChange. To help connect the 32 million people who will be eligible for government-subsidized health insurance beginning in 2014 with actual medical services, scores of new insurance exchanges will be set up around the country, brokering deals between health plans and individual patients. Waxman thinks the exchanges will also attract millions of people currently covered by employer-provided insurance, as companies realize it’s more cost-effective to hand employees the money for premiums and let them choose their own plans. (General Motors, for example, said it saved $300 million a year after hiring Extend Health to help retirees handle their own Medicare enrollment.)

“The private exchanges will get commissions for helping somebody to buy insurance in a way that is most suitable to them,” says Waxman. “I think that is a good system. You are going to have a huge number of people in this space.”

But to stay competitive, both the exchanges and the insurance plans will need to invest in the best new information technology, which leads to another of Psilos’s recommended investing categories. The company says insurance companies are struggling with decades-old software that isn’t ready for the changes coming under Obamacare, including pay-for-performance reimbursement.

“If 50,000 people were to show up at United Healthcare tomorrow and say, ‘I want to buy this kind of health plan,’ it would take them 9 months to do the software changes to administer new types of benefits,” Waxman says. “That’s not reasonable. It should take a couple of weeks.”

Burlington, MA-based HealthEdge, a Psilos-backed company founded in 2006 to help big health plans overhaul their claims processing systems and other software, is now one of the fastest-growing healthcare technology firms in the country, Waxman says. “I am sure other people will become interested in the health enterprise software area,” he says.

Waxman says the Psilos report is aimed mainly at institutional investors and other deep-pocketed potential LPs who are trying to figure out whether, when, and how to invest in the healthcare business. Under SEC rules, Psilos isn’t allowed to say whether it’s begun raising a fourth fund, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that at some point. “Given what we think are the opportunities going forward, we are actively exploring what we might do,” Waxman says.

But why would investors put their money into nascent businesses like insurance exchanges and health enterprise software makers now, rather than just waiting a couple of years to see how the reforms under Obamacare alter the economics of the business?

“I think you would see that the people who invested with us even before the healthcare reforms are prospering, because we were very good prognosticators,” Waxman says. “There is going to be a fundamental transformation of the healthcare industry, and it is going to be dependent on technology. We are very good selectors of that.”

Apr 11

SeeChange Health Ushers In A New Model For Health Insurance

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April 3, 2013 | by Zina Moukheiber, Forbes

When former California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner was reviewing health plan options in 2011for his online education start-up Empowered, he picked a little-known company called SeeChange Health. “We’re being a pioneer, but we’re really excited about this in terms of spiraling health care costs,” says Poizner, who has 50 employees.

More than a decade ago, upstart Definity Health—now part of UnitedHealth Group, came up with the novel idea of giving employees of self-insured companies discretionary accounts for their health care. Money not spent on doctor visits was theirs to keep for future medical expenses.

By giving employees a stake in managing their health care finances, the Definity plan lowered an employer’s costs, but it wasn’t perfect. People might put off seeing a doctor when necessary, and it didn’t do much for those afflicted with diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease. Chronic conditions account for a majority of health care costs.

Enter SeeChange. Martin Watson fiddled with health plan designs, more recently at UnitedHealth, before forming the start-up in 2008. “You want people to see a doctor on an annual basis; if you have type 2 diabetes, you need to do a lab test twice a year; if you can identify a cancerous condition a little earlier, you can save [later on],” says Watson. Get the picture.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to cover preventive exams, such as mammograms, annual physical, and colonoscopies, but Watson says that is not enough to motivate people. So, SeeChange steps up incentives.

A plan works like this: A member fills out every year a health history questionnaire, takes a basic blood test, and goes for preventive check-ups—all voluntary. In return, SeeChange deposits $250 in the member’s account; $250 for a spouse, or up to $500, which go toward paying the deductible. Members who have pre-diabetes, diabetes, asthma can earn additional financial rewards for completing health tasks. (SeeChange tracks seven chronic conditions).

Members—typically companies with 2 to 50 employees, can access Cigna’s national network of doctors. SeeChange has licenses to operate in 25 states, but currently offers its plans in California and Colorado. It targets small and mid-size businesses, a niche often ignored by big insurance companies. To date, it has enrolled 36,000 members, up from 1,500 in 2011.

Watson says his company can afford to offer financial incentives, because it has newer and more efficient information technology systems than established insurance companies, and lower administrative expenses. In fact, it manages two UnitedHealth programs that offer financial rewards to patients who meet personalized health goals.

Last year, venture-backed SeeChange reported revenues of $50 million, a seven-fold increase over 2011. The company attributes the dramatic rise to its full launch in California at the end of 2011, and the addition of Colorado last year. During the same period, the number of brokers who sell its plans jumped from 252 to more than 1,800. SeeChange also clinched the partnership with Cigna.

Prior to 2012, the company’s plans were available only in a handful of cities in California, and it had a limited network of doctors. It is not profitable yet, but expects to be in the first half of next year. “Two years ago, no one cared about us; now everyone knows we’re in town,” says Alan Katz, who’s in charge of sales at SeeChange.

Competitors are taking notice, especially since in 2014 the ACA will allow employers to increase wellness program rewards from 20% of an employee’s health benefit costs to 30%. Last year, Blue Shield of California launched Blue Groove that offers incentives.

SeeChange can’t point to health care savings or better clinical outcomes yet, but customers such as Poizner are not waiting. “Even with health care reform, insurance premiums are spiraling up. Something needs to be done,” he says.

Apr 08

SeeChange Health Insurance To Partner with California Smokers’ Helpline To Offer a Free Smoking Cessation Benefit to Members

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STUDIO CITY, Calif., April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – SeeChange Health Insurance, the leader in value-based benefit design solutions for small and midsized employers and the fastest-growing health plan in California, is partnering with the California Smokers’ Helpline to offer a free smoking cessation program to its members.  The Helpline, also known as  1-800-NO-BUTTS , offers free, evidence-based, telephone counseling in six languages to help smokers quit.  With this partnership, SeeChange Health members will also receive nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), which significantly increases quit rates.

“Smoking poses serious health risks, and we want to ensure our members have the tools they need to quit the habit and live healthier, more productive lives,” said Sean Penwell , Chief Medical Officer of SeeChange Health. “By teaming up with California Smokers’ Helpline we now offer our members a proven solution to overcome a difficult health issue.”

Under this arrangement with the Helpline, SeeChange Health members will receive free counseling sessions with trained and experienced professionals who work with them to design a personalized plan that meets their individual goals.  Additionally, as part of the program, members may receive up to four weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy, shipped directly to their home. “SeeChange Health’s unique approach encourages and rewards members for taking steps to become healthy,” added Dr. Penwell.  “This program adds to our line-up of proactive actions members can take to better manage their health.”

SeeChange Health is the first health plan in California to partner with the Helpline in this innovative public-private partnership.  With the Helpline’s high name recognition and credibility among the medical community and the public, SeeChange Health sees this as an opportunity to leverage an accessible program and provide added value for its members. The Helpline sees similar benefits. “By partnering with SeeChange Health to add NRT to the counseling services already provided by the Helpline, we will increase the effectiveness of our program without adding cost to the state of California,” said Christopher Anderson , Program Director for the Helpline.

About SeeChange Health
SeeChange Health delivers plans, technology and services aimed at creating better health and quality of life for employees, increasing workforce productivity, and lowering health care costs by encouraging individuals to play an active role in managing their health to prevent, detect and treat serious health conditions. SeeChange Health Insurance provides value-based benefit plans to fully insured employer groups in California and Colorado. SeeChange Health Solutions provides a completely customizable consumer engagement and health incentive technology platform to employers, health plans and third party administrators delivering the cost-controlling advantages of value-based benefit plans. Fast Company magazine acknowledged the power of SeeChange Health’s approach to wellness in naming it #20 on its list of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” for 2013. For more information, visit www.SeeChangeHealth.com.

About the California Smokers’ Helpline
The California Smokers’ Helpline ( 1-800-NO-BUTTS ) is a free statewide quit smoking service operated by the University of California San Diego and funded by the California Department of Public Health and First 5 California. The Helpline offers self-help materials, referral to local programs, and one-on-one, telephone counseling to help Californians quit smoking. Helpline services have been proven in clinical trials to double a smoker’s chances of successfully quitting. Services are available in six languages (English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese) and specialized services are also available for teens, pregnant women, and tobacco chewers. The Helpline also provides information to friends and family members of tobacco users.

Contact:
Susan Cotton
818-824-9164

Mar 08

Cash Incentives Help People Lose Weight, Researchers Find

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March 7, 2013 | by Nicole Ostrow, Bloomberg

Financial incentives for losing weight help people shed more pounds than programs that don’t affect dieters’ wallets, a study found.

Participants who received money monthly for losing weight or paid into a pool when they didn’t meet goals, dropped 9.1 pounds on average, compared with 2.3 pounds for those without cash incentives, according to research released today in advance of the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Francisco.

“Just wanting to lose weight isn’t enough,” said Donald Hensrud, chairman of preventive medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who helped write the study. “People need creative strategies. Financial incentives can be powerful.”

More than two-thirds of companies are experimenting with programs that encourage healthier behavior in workers, such as higher insurance premiums for smokers or reduced rates for fitness clubs. One common tactic is to withhold incentives or raise fees for obese workers, penalties that can be lifted if they lower their body mass index, according to Michael Wood, a senior benefits consultant in Seattle at Towers Watson & Co. (TW)

“The jury is still out as to whether financial incentives will improve the rate of success of people losing weight on a long-term basis,” Wood said in a telephone interview.

$168 Billion

More than two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity-related health costs are more than $168 billion annually, according to a Feb. 20 study in JAMA-Surgery.

Today’s study followed 100 adults ages 18 to 63 years who were obese based on their body mass index. They were weighed monthly for a year. The study was one of the longest looking at workplace financial incentives for weight loss.

Fifteen people received the maximum $360 over the year by attending every monthly weigh-in and reaching and maintaining their weight loss goal, Hensrud said. The study participants paid $2,200 into the pool in penalties, which was then divided among the eight people who reached the overall weight-loss goal of 10 percent and two other people in a general lottery. The researchers spent $12,000 for the monthly incentives.

Future studies should look at what financial incentives work best and how long the programs need to be in place to help people maintain their weight loss, Hensrud said.

Rising Tide

More than two-thirds of companies offer financial incentives to encourage participation in wellness activities, an increase from about half in 2010, according to the 18th annual Towers Watson survey on employer health care released today.

While incentive programs can cost companies about $100 to $1,200 year for each person and any spouse, healthier employees lower health insurance costs, Wood said. Companies also can build program costs into their health insurance bill, he said.

Thirty-six percent of companies reward employees for participating in a smoking-cessation program and 42 percent charge tobacco users about $50 a month, according to the survey.

About 16 percent of companies reward or penalize employees based on outcomes other than tobacco use, including weight control or cholesterol levels, an increase from 10 percent in 2012. That number is expected to jump to 47 percent in 2014 as more companies say they will enact these programs, according to the Towers Watson survey taken from November 2012 to January 2013 of 583 employers with a total of 11.3 million workers.

Fear Factor

In the Mayo Clinic study, each person was assigned to one of four groups. One group was provided weight-loss education, another received education and financial incentives, a third was provided education plus behavior modification and the last had financial incentives with education and behavior modification.

Those in the financial incentive groups who met their weight-loss goals received $20 a month, while those who didn’t had to pay $20 into a bonus pool. Half of the bonus pool went to people who met their study goals and the other half was put into a lottery for everyone who completed the yearlong study no matter their results, Hensrud said.

“Fear of losing money tends to motivate people about two and a half times more than the prospect of gaining the same amount of money, so we intentionally designed the incentives so that participants would have some of their own skin in the game,” said Steven Driver, a lead study author and a resident physician in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic.

Sixty-two percent of the people with financial incentives completed the study compared with 26 percent in the non- incentive groups. The researchers estimated that 6.5 pounds of the 9.1 pounds average weight loss was attributable to the incentives.

Hensrud said financial incentives don’t work alone and may need to be combined with other methods to help people lose weight. Also, the incentive program didn’t pay for itself so more work may be needed to find programs that don’t add to company costs, he said.

Mar 05

Healthcare Access and Affordability for Colorado Residents Increases with Partnership of SeeChange Health and Colorado Health Insurance CO-OP

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Partnerships will Drive New, Consumer-Governed Options for Managing Health

SAN FRANCISCO, March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ –

SeeChange Health, a leader in value-based health benefit solutions, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with the Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative (the CO-OP). This partnership, a first for SeeChange Health under the Affordable Care Act, gives Colorado residents increased options for benefit access and affordability, and encourages consumers to take a more active role in their health.

“SeeChange Health is committed to empowering consumers in their health decisions, which aligns with the mission of the Colorado CO-OP,” said Martin Watson, CEO of SeeChange Health. “We are pleased to provide Colorado consumers a new, proven approach that encourages and rewards individuals for taking better care of their own health.”

SeeChange Health will provide the CO-OP its administrative services and value-based benefit platform. The CO-OP will offer its small group and individual products through Connect on Health Colorado, the state health benefit exchange, and directly to consumers through brokers. The products will be offered in October 2013 for effective dates in January 2014.

“Through this partnership, we seek to improve the health of our members and reduce health care costs, as well as to provide Coloradoans more choices in their health benefits,” Julia Hutchins, CEO of the CO-OP. “We have a highly-selective review process for potential partners and we are confident that working with SeeChange Health will help connect Colorado communities to better health management options.”

Recently identified as one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, SeeChange Health expects to continue to expand its proprietary health engagement platform to CO-OPs, health-insurers, third-party administrators and employers. Additionally, SeeChange Health’s Insurance division launched in Colorado in 2012, becoming the first health plan to only offer value-based benefit plans to small and mid-sized employers. This followed a successful statewide launch in California in fall 2011. SeeChange Health is planning to expand into additional states over the next few years.

SeeChange Health’s customer base has increased from 400,000 members in 2011 to greater than 1.1 million in 2012. The membership growth has translated to revenue increases from $7.6 million in 2011 to $50.2 million in 2012.

About SeeChange Health

SeeChange Health delivers plans, technology and services aimed at creating better health and quality of life for employees, increasing workforce productivity, and lowering health care costs by encouraging individuals to play an active role in managing their health to prevent, detect and treat serious health conditions. SeeChange Health Insurance provides value-based benefit plans to fully insured employer groups in California and Colorado. SeeChange Health Solutions provides a completely customizable consumer engagement and health incentive technology platform to employers, health plans and third party administrators delivering the cost-controlling advantages of value-based benefit plans. For more information, visit www.SeeChangeHealth.com.

About the Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative (the CO-OP)

The Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative (the CO-OP) is a consumer governed and operated, nonprofit insurance company that aims to offer affordable, high-quality health coverage to individuals and small businesses. Sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Educational and Charitable Foundation, the CO-OP’s health plans will be sold through Connect for Health Colorado (the Exchange) and independent insurance brokers and agents in 2013. Our plans will go into effect in 2014.

The CO-OP was established in 2012 through a $69 million line of credit awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. What sets the CO-OP apart from existing health insurers is its structure. CO-OP members will ultimately be responsible for its operations and growth. Any surplus dollars the CO-OP earns will be returned to members through reduced premiums, increased benefits, or quality improvements.

Contact:
Susan Cotton
818-824-9164
Email

 

Feb 14

SeeChange Health Named to Fast Company’s “World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2013″ List and Reports 560% Revenue Growth in 2012

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SeeChange Health’s unique approach to health care coverage recognized as industry-changing and leads to rapid growth in revenue and membership

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – SeeChange Health (www.SeeChangeHealth.com), the leader in wellness-centric health care coverage known as value-based benefit design, announced revenues grew from $7.6 million in 2011 to $50.2 million 2012.

“We don’t take a traditional approach to health care coverage,” said Martin Watson, SeeChange Health’s CEO. “We help employers improve the health and productivity of their workforce while helping control medical costs by rewarding employees for taking steps to better manage their health. It’s a new, common-sense approach that is rapidly gaining acceptance and our results certainly reflect this.”

In addition to rapid revenue growth, SeeChange Health is experiencing tremendous membership growth. SeeChange Health Solutions offers a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to self-insured employers and health plans, delivering highly customized benefit designs and incentives aimed at motivating employees to improve their health. In 2012, SeeChange Health Solutions served more than 1.1 million consumers, an increase of 185% over 2011.

Launched statewide in California in 2011 and Colorado in 2012, SeeChange Health Insurance provides value-based benefit plans to fully-insured small and mid-size employers. The carrier grew to over 22,000 insured members in 2012, a 725% increase over 2011. In the first two months of 2013, SeeChange Health Insurance grew 50%.

“What’s been remarkable, and rewarding, about our growth is how quickly thousands of businesses and their brokers have embraced our unique approach that rewards members for improving and managing their health,” said Alan Katz, executive vice president for SeeChange Health Insurance.

The unique value proposition of SeeChange Health is a major reason the company landed at number 20 on Fast Company magazine’s list of the “World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” for 2013 alongside the likes of Nike, Apple, Google, Yelp and Amazon. The Fast Company list recognizes the businesses “whose innovations are having the greatest impacts across their industries and our culture.”

“Our goal is to bring something new, different and better to the health insurance industry,” remarked Watson. “The marketplace has noticed. Having Fast Company recognize what we’re doing is changing the industry encourages everyone at SeeChange Health. This honor will keep us focused on continuing to innovate and improve in the years ahead.”

 

About SeeChange Health
SeeChange Health is the leader in value-based benefit design solutions for employers – delivering plans and services to create better health and quality of life for employees, increase workforce productivity and lower their health care costs for employers. SeeChange Health’s unique approach encourages individuals to play an active role in the management of their own health to prevent, detect and treat today’s most serious health conditions. SeeChange Health Insurance provides value-based benefit plans to fully-insured small and mid-size businesses. SeeChange Health Solutions provides value-based benefit platforms and services to self-insured companies and carriers.

 

For more information, please go to www.SeeChangeHealth.com.

 

About Fast Company
Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business-media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. In print and through digital and social channels, as well as live events, Fast Company reports on and addresses the most progressive business leaders. Editor Robert Safian was named AdWeek’s Editor of the Year in 2009. Under the leadership of publisher Christine Osekoski, Fast Company made AdWeek’s Hot List for three consecutive years, and FastCompany.com executive editor Noah Robischon has tripled traffic and revenue. Fast Company is owned by Joe Mansueto, founder, chairman, and CEO of Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment research.

Contact: Susan Cotton
(818) 824-9164
SCotton@SeeChangeHealth.com

©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

Jan 30

5 trends for health care in 2013

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Get ready for an onslaught of educational campaigns.

January 30, 2013 | by Nina Dunn, Ragan’s Health Care Communication News

Looking back at 2012, I can say with certainty that the year was one of the most uncertain that the health care industry has seen in a long time.

At the heart of the confusion was how and when elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would take effect.

Compounding the indecision was a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the individual mandate (a decision that both FOX News and CNN initially called incorrectly), a presidential election, a divided Congress, and, if these factors weren’t enough, a slowly rebounding economy that seemed to ebb and flow with the weekly jobs report.

In fact, it wasn’t until President Obama’s reelection on November 6 that we realized that the ACA would remain, with all its good and bad.

Meanwhile, some key provisions of Obama’s crowning legislative achievement took effect, including a hospital value-based purchasing program, applications for bundled payment programs, and accountable care organizations (ACOs). The media landscape was saturated with discussions, predictions and opinions regarding the new health care law and its effect on the costs, quality of care and health care accessibility.

So, what does 2013 hold for health care communications?

Accountability

The fiscal cliff and the importance of reducing sky-high health care costs will drive the conversation, forcing companies to redefine their top-level narratives and key messages. Accountability will be the buzzword of the health care industry in 2013.

As the health care system is shifting from a fee-for-service model to value-based compensation, communications efforts will be spent on showcasing, through data and real-life case studies, how a product or service lowers costs and improves care quality.

Educational campaigns

We can expect that 2013 will be a year of major health care awareness campaigns. The government, insurers and non-profits will be educating patients about changes related to their health care access in time for 2014, when health insurance exchanges go live. Engaging patients on their care will be a key priority for health care PR professionals this year.

Pharmaceuticals

With the expiration of patents on many blockbuster drugs, we will see pharma focusing on disease awareness campaigns. As a result of high product saturation in many sectors, we can expect that pharma will continue developing value-added initiatives, such as disease-specific communities, medication reminders, wellness apps and more.

Elder care

Within this fast growing sector of health care, Alzheimer’s disease—America’s most feared disease— will be a hot issue. Companies working on new Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment options, as well as care programs, will be looking to raise their brand profile, fight current stigmas associated with the condition and raise awareness about the value of early diagnosis.

Mobile health

Last year we were introduced to two tablets that fit in a physician’s lab coat—iPad Mini and the Nexus 7. While doctors have been early adopters of smartphones and tablets for medical purposes, patients are catching up. More and more Americans use smartphones to access health-related information and manage their health. In 2013, mHealth will play an increasing role in preventative care, care coordination and post discharge care, making a mobile strategy an integral part of any health care PR planning.

Nina Dunn is a communications and media relations specialist at Spector & Associates.