AmeriHealth: Difference between revisions
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In June of 2009 New Jersey [[state legislators]] proposed a state tax on health insurance premiums. Reacting to this development, AmeriHealth New Jersey and other New Jersey health insurance companies stepped in to block the proposal. As a result, the premiums paid by companies that buy health coverage from insurers will increase from 1 percent to 1.35 percent instead of rising to 2.25 percent as originally proposed. The increase went into the New Jersey Health Care Subsidy Fund, which reimburses hospitals for providing charity care to patients who do not have any health insurance. While it could have been much worse, health insurance executives made clear that the outcome was at best a partial victory, since they and those they insure will still see a tax increase. AmeriHealth New Jersey would have seen a $7.5 million increase, because it would have lost its ability to pay taxes on only 12.5 percent of its premiums. However, the proposal was dropped and the company will see only a $150,000 tax increase, according to Brian Litten, company vice president of strategic and external affairs. In terms of the average cost to a person insured by the company, the increase fell from $105 per year to $2.24 per year. <ref>[http://www.njbiz.com/article.asp?aID=78585 NJBiz 2009: ...tax hike on health insurance is reduced... see page 2]</ref> |
In June of 2009 New Jersey [[state legislators]] proposed a state tax on health insurance premiums. Reacting to this development, AmeriHealth New Jersey and other New Jersey health insurance companies stepped in to block the proposal. As a result, the premiums paid by companies that buy health coverage from insurers will increase from 1 percent to 1.35 percent instead of rising to 2.25 percent as originally proposed. The increase went into the New Jersey Health Care Subsidy Fund, which reimburses hospitals for providing charity care to patients who do not have any health insurance. While it could have been much worse, health insurance executives made clear that the outcome was at best a partial victory, since they and those they insure will still see a tax increase. AmeriHealth New Jersey would have seen a $7.5 million increase, because it would have lost its ability to pay taxes on only 12.5 percent of its premiums. However, the proposal was dropped and the company will see only a $150,000 tax increase, according to Brian Litten, company vice president of strategic and external affairs. In terms of the average cost to a person insured by the company, the increase fell from $105 per year to $2.24 per year. <ref>[http://www.njbiz.com/article.asp?aID=78585 NJBiz 2009: ...tax hike on health insurance is reduced... see page 2]</ref> |
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==Member Testimonies== |
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As an Amerihealth member, I am very dissatisfied with Amerihealth. I find it extremely difficult to get straight information from Amerihealth customer support. For example, Amerihealth reps have told me that they have no information about which medical providers are "in-network". Yet, when I mention a specific provider, Amerihealth is able to quickly (and often falsely) assert that the provider is not "in-network". One rep at Amerihealth will inform me that I have no deductible. Another will inform me that I have a $700 deductible. Amerihealth needs to get it together, train their reps and provide consistent information to members. If it is the underwriting company that is to blame, then Amerihealth needs to take responsibility for their underwriters. |
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And while it is ideal that people live healthy lives, Amerihealth has no right to insist that that we become a nation of perfectly aerobicized, nutritionally calibrated healthy robots to serve the purposes of Amerihealth's bottom line. People have a right to their appetites, decadent though they may be at times. |
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== Awards and recognition == |
== Awards and recognition == |
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Revision as of 22:12, 8 October 2009
| File:AmeriHealth Logo.png | |
| Industry | Insurance |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Mount Laurel, New Jersey, Iselin, New Jersey, USA  |
Key people | Judith L. Roman (President & CEO) |
| Products | Health insurance |
| Website | www.AmeriHealth.com |
 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. |
AmeriHealth New Jersey is a provider of health insurance to nearly 230,000 employers and individuals throughout New Jersey. The company's contracted hospital and physician network includes thousands of physicians at 76 hospitals throughout its service area.[1] Its HMO and POS plans are New Jersey's top-rated health plans based on the highest ratings for customer service and quality-of-care in the 2008 New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance HMO Performance Report.[2] Additional products include workers compensation, property and casualty insurance, and management services.[3] AmeriHealth's headquarters are in Mount Laurel and Iselin, New Jersey, and they have additional offices in Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
AmeriHealth New Jersey offers nationwide coverage through PHCS, a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). The company offers insurance solutions through AmeriHealth’s wellness benefits and incentive programs.[4]
History
AmeriHealth, originally known as Delaware Valley HMO, was established in 1995 to provide health coverage to Pennsylvania employers and their staff residing in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem counties of New Jersey. It expanded its coverage area to include southern New Jersey and Delaware, and, by 1997, AmeriHealth offered coverage to the entire state of New Jersey.[5] In October of 2008, AmeriHealth appointed Brian J. Litten to the newly created position of vice president, strategic and external affairs. In June 2008, Litten was named as the state's top lobbyist by the highly regarded political website "In the Lobby." In his new position at AmeriHealth, Litten is responsible for a variety of strategic planning, project management and external communications pertaining to the company's growth and development in New Jersey.[6]
Wellness programs
AmeriHealth New Jersey is a provider of employer on-site health coaching with a nurse wellness specialist to small- and mid-sized New Jersey-based organizations. Workplace wellness services include sending registered nurses to provide a broad spectrum of on-site health education, seminars, screenings, and support. AmeriHealth offers an incentive-based wellness program,[7] called AmeriHealth Healthy Lifestyles Rewards, which links healthy employee behaviors directly to the accruement of Health Reimbursement Account credits.[citation needed]
Community involvement
AmeriHealth is the name sponsor of the New Jersey Devils’ practice facility, the AmeriHealth Pavilion. At the time this sponsorship was announced, news reports cited AmeriHealth’s desire to contribute to the “revitalization of Newark.”[8]
AmeriHealth is also a sponsor and participant in Special Olympics New Jersey’s annual “Lincoln Tunnel Challenge.” In 2009 the event drew a record crowd of 3,500 runners and walkers to the tunnel. Judith Roman, AmeriHealth New Jersey president and chief executive officer, organizes this event to encourage people to be active and adopt healthier lifestyles. [9] Additionally, AmeriHealth sponsors and participates in the “Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge,” which benefits the Larc School for the disabled;[10][11] and sponsors Rutgers University and the minor league Camden Riversharks baseball team.[12]
March of Dimes 2009 National Ambassador Katelyn Marie Hall and her parents visited AmeriHealth New Jersey in Mount Laurel as part of their journey around the country to raise awareness about the March of Dimes. The visit kicked-off AmeriHealth's sponsorship of the Walk for Babies event along the Camden Waterfront in April 2009.
Health Care Reform
In February of 2009, Michael Munoz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing was a featured panelist at a health care symposium in Trenton organized by Hillsborough based New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters. At the symposium Munoz sighted that the main factor driving healthcare premiums was medical costs, which accounted for 85-90 cents of every insurance premium dollar. In speaking on a means of reform Munoz suggested that there should be some sort of accountability for employers and their employees to live healthier lifestyles and to take more responsibility for understanding the impact that the cost and quality of care have on the cost of insurance.[13] Munoz also mentioned a Burlington County firm as an example of an industry wide trend of insurers paying out up to 90 percent of premiums in claims. When AmeriHealth offered discounts of up to 2.5 percent on premiums for employers who participated in health risk assessments and wellness programs participation rose from below 10 percent to 94 percent in 90 days.[14]
In June of 2009 New Jersey state legislators proposed a state tax on health insurance premiums. Reacting to this development, AmeriHealth New Jersey and other New Jersey health insurance companies stepped in to block the proposal. As a result, the premiums paid by companies that buy health coverage from insurers will increase from 1 percent to 1.35 percent instead of rising to 2.25 percent as originally proposed. The increase went into the New Jersey Health Care Subsidy Fund, which reimburses hospitals for providing charity care to patients who do not have any health insurance. While it could have been much worse, health insurance executives made clear that the outcome was at best a partial victory, since they and those they insure will still see a tax increase. AmeriHealth New Jersey would have seen a $7.5 million increase, because it would have lost its ability to pay taxes on only 12.5 percent of its premiums. However, the proposal was dropped and the company will see only a $150,000 tax increase, according to Brian Litten, company vice president of strategic and external affairs. In terms of the average cost to a person insured by the company, the increase fell from $105 per year to $2.24 per year. [15]
Awards and recognition
AmeriHealth earned top ratings for customer service and quality of care in the 2008 New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance’s HMO Performance Report.[16]
The company’s managed care plan, AmeriHealth HMO Inc. of New Jersey, has received the highest possible accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) by meeting NCQA's rigorous evaluation standards.[17]
References
- ^ Network Update
- ^ 2008 NJDOBI Performance Report
- ^ AmeriHealth Company Information
- ^ AmeriHealth News: National Access
- ^ AmeriHealth History
- ^ Reuters: AmeriHealth New Jersey Names Brian J. Litten Vice President, Strategic and External...
- ^ AmeriHealth, Health Resources
- ^ NJ.com: AmeriHealth contributing to the revitalization of downtown Newark
- ^ Lincoln Tunnel Challenge
- ^ Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge
- ^ Red Orbit News - Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge
- ^ Camden Riversharks Sponsorship
- ^ 2009 NJAHU Conference Notes
- ^ NJBiz 2009: Health care a bitter pill to swallow
- ^ NJBiz 2009: ...tax hike on health insurance is reduced... see page 2
- ^ 2008 State of New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance HMO Report Card
- ^ NCQA Health Care Quality Report