Business
Tufts drops consumer-directed plan
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 14, 2006
A Massachusetts health plan says it is phasing out what was its first consumer-directed health plan. But the company said the move is more about the specific structure of the plan, and not its feelings on the future of consumer-directed health.
Liberty, operated by Tufts Health Plan and Destiny Health Inc. and its South African parent company, Discovery Holdings Ltd., hasn't attracted enough participants since it was introduced in the spring of 2003, Tufts said. The plan covers about 10,000 people in Massachusetts, compared with about 600,000 overall Tufts members.
Tufts CEO James Roosevelt Jr. said Liberty didn't succeed because it was ahead of its time in Massachusetts, and people weren't prepared for the concept of paying an out-of-pocket deductible before the insurance started paying for health care. Employers also complained about reimbursement complications for vouchers employees received for healthy habits.
Company officials said ending the partnership between Tufts and Destiny Health was a mutual decision.
Tufts has more than 150,000 members enrolled in consumer-directed plans other than Liberty, so the company said its commitment to such plans remains strong. Tufts officials said Liberty members will have the opportunity to enroll in another consumer-directed health plan, or they can choose a different plan offered by their employer.
Destiny still has an alliance with Guardian Life Insurance Co. of New York to market consumer-directed health plans in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The companies plan to expand their offerings nationwide, starting next with Texas.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/08/14/bibf0814.htm.
