MANCHESTER, N.H. — Harvard Pilgrim Health Care will enter the New Hampshire health insurance market with two networks that already include 24 of the state’s 26 hospitals. Negotiations to bring the final two into the system are continuing.
The company will start enrolling people this fall for policies that take effect Jan. 1. It is one of four insurers that will join Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield in selling policies under the Affordable Care Act.
At the core of Harvard Pilgrim’s entrance its ElevateHealth network, a 12-hospital group of providers intended to coordinate care, put the patient closer to the provider, eliminate duplication of services, and ultimately cut costs.
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ElevateHealth is a partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Elliott Health System. Beth Roberts, senior vice president, said ElevateHealth could cut premiums by about 10 percent compared with its other, full-network systems.
Harvard Pilgrim, a not-for-profit company based in Wellesley, Mass., with about 1 million members in New England, will also sell policies that offer coverage at all but two hospitals: Parkland Medical Center in Derry and Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
Policies will be available to individuals and small employer groups starting at the next open enrollment period in November.
Harvard Pilgrim intends to offer two gold plans, four silver plans, and two bronze plans in New Hampshire. Individuals can choose plans with Health Savings Accounts within each of the tiers, and four HMO plans for small businesses will be available through the Small Business Health Options Program.
Anthem was criticized when it launched its network of 16 hospitals, and the state insurance department held a hearing last month on a complaint from a Rochester woman challenging its approval of the so-called narrow network. Company officials have said that including all hospitals would drive up premiums.
During the health law’s first enrollment period, more than 40,000 New Hampshire residents selected health plans, more than twice the target set by the Obama administration.
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