Minuteman Health, an HMO covering individuals and businesses in Massachusetts and NH, grew its total membership by 12,438 between Feb. 1, 2016 and Feb. 1, 2017.
In that period, the organization increased its NH membership by 58 percent with the addition of 9,787 members, growing its total Granite State coverage from 16,930 to 26,717. Overall membership increased by 53 percent, from 23,357 in Feb. 2016 to 35,795 in Feb. 2017.
Thomas Policelli, CEO of Minuteman, attributed the growth to the company’s network build-out and push to offer lower price points and more healthcare options. He says the organizations models focuses on a collaborative relationship with doctors, nurses and hospitals, adding that Minuteman will continue to add providers in the coming year. There are currently 11,700 hospitals, physicians and specialists in the organization's network.
“Over the last two years, we have focused on building up our individual member base,” says Keith Ledoux, VP of new sales and retention. “We will continue our growth in that sector in 2017, but we’re also making an effort to bring our healthcare approach to employers and municipalities of all sizes.”
Moving forward, Policelli says the biggest challenge facing fully insured employers is the federal Risk Adjustment program.
“The natural focus of growth will be in level-funded products for small group and all funding types for larger groups, because they are exempt from the federal Risk Adjustment program," says Policelli. "Risk Adjustment is turning out to be an affordability tax in the individual and small group markets, and is pushing fully-insured employer premiums 15 to 25 percent higher than they should be."
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