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Says MCOL President Clive Riddle, “I’ve been involved with health plan premiums for twenty years, and I learned a number of things in analyzing the data from this application, including evolving trends and key market specific information. This is an invaluable positioning and analysis tool for plans, providers and market analysts who have grown to rely on this product to gain competitive advantage in the California marketplace.”
The key module in the suite is the CA HMO Commercial Premium Rate survey, where MCOL collected almost 18,000 sets of premium rates with effective dates between January and April 2000 from agents and employers throughout the State, and developed a comprehensive database, with average rates by plan, by county broken out by tier, benefit level, group size, and age band. In addition, a premium increase analysis of matched comparable rates from the 1999 survey was conducted. The module provides a sophisticated data query feature that integrates with Microsoft Access or can print or export special reports, and also provides nine pre-set detailed reports in Microsoft Excel format.
Other modules include an Executive Report with 126 pages of key findings and summary data tables; a Commercial Premium Rate Primer, with 205 pages of premium rate management articles addressing trends and methodologies; a database of historical premium PMPM revenues by plan; a database of current and historical premiums in California purchasing pools, a Medicare HMO premium and HCFA payment database, and CA HMO profile.
“We’ve also added a new option, the CA HMO Report, for those who want a lower priced alternative that doesn’t include the databases, but does provide 370 plus pages of significant market and rate reports and information, including the Executive Report, Commercial Premium Rate Primer and CA HMO Profile all in Adobe Acrobat format,” adds Riddle.
CA HMO Rate 2000 is available for the price of $2,495, and the CA HMO Rate Report is available for just $525. Orders and considerable additional information can be obtained by contacting MCOL at 1.209.577.4888 or on the Web at www.mcareol.com/carate2000.htm.
The difference between the average premium
rates by county varied 37% from the highest (Plumas and Sierra) to the lowest
(San Bernardino and Riverside). The ten most expensive average premiums by
county were all from rural Northern California counties. Conversely, the ten
lowest average premiums by county were all urban counties, with the seven
cheapest in Southern California and the remainder in the Bay Area.
Plans demonstrate a very different rating
strategy and market position for non-age vs. age-rated premium rates. Of the
statewide plans, Aetna had the lowest non-age-rated rates, and Health Net had
the highest non-age-rated rates. For age-rated rates between statewide plans,
Kaiser had the lowest rates and Blue Shield and Blue Cross had the highest
rates.
Change in Commercial HMO Premium Rates
from 1999
Individual and Small Group rates increased
in excess of 17% and up, while Mid-Size groups in the 13% range, and Large
Groups increased in the 8% to 9% range. Non-age-rated rates increased in the
7% range, while single premium age-rated rates increased in the 18% range and
increases for other age-rated rate categories were higher. Of the statewide
plans, Cigna, Health Net, Kaiser and PacifiCare all experienced single digit
premium increases, while several other statewide plans experienced increases
in excess of 20%.
Ninety-six different Medicare HMO premium rate and
benefit option plans are offered by 17 health plans in various parts of
California. The average premium rate paid by the Medicare HMO members in is
$37.24 in Northern California and $4.67 in Southern California.
MCOL
is a five-year-old health care Internet company delivering
business-to-business managed care resources. MCOL has become the recognized
Internet leader in the delivery of knowledge resources to professionals
involved in managed care. MCOL business lines include: Membership-based
services through Managed Care On-Line and Global Health Resources.com;
e-Commerce through the Managed Care Store; and Business e-Solutions. MCOL is
based in Modesto, California, with additional offices in Portland, Oregon. For
more information, please visit www.mcol.com/about.htm.
Also, visit our new Web site at www.definedcare.com.
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