Harvard Pilgrim Health Care settles rate dispute with Massachusetts Division of Insurance
07/09/2010
Email from Thomas G. Hamel
Manager, Broker Relations
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care As you know, Harvard Pilgrim has reached agreement with the Massachusetts Division of Insurance (DOI) on small business and individual premiums for customers with April through December 2010 effective dates. I am writing to let you know several important pieces of information related to the agreement: - We appreciate your patience during this time, and want you to know that we are committed to our relationship with you and our customers. Therefore, Harvard Pilgrim has decided not to retro-bill for the coverage months of April, May, June and July.
- Updated rates will be effective for coverage periods beginning August 1st through the end of the customer's plan year.
- Harvard Pilgrim will update rates for customers with April - August effective dates, and those customers will see increases averaging 7-11% from their interim premium that was built on a 2009 base rate. For your information we are including a list of impacted plans at the end of this communication.
- Impacted customers will see adjustments either in the September or October billing cycles. If the adjustment is not reflected in the September invoice, it will appear in the October invoice. In the meantime, we ask customers to continue to pay their invoices as billed.
- If rates have not yet been accepted for August renewals, updated rates for those accounts will be available in Easy Online Renewal as of July 15th. If August rates have already been accepted, customers will see adjustments in their October invoice.
- We will send letters and revised rate sheets to employers and their associated brokers in advance of the invoice adjustments.
- We expect September rates to be available starting July 15th.
To ensure our operations are consistent with current marketplace practices, Harvard Pilgrim will maintain its current processes for new and existing business. For new business, this means: - New business small group application packages must be completed and received at least 30 days before the requested effective date. Application packages that are incomplete or missing information may require us to move the effective date to a future date based on when we receive complete information.
- We will e-mail the new business Application Package Acknowledgement Form to you when we receive new small group application packages. The form includes a list of all items we must receive to consider the application complete; documentation for you about the complete or incomplete status of the application; and a summary of any missing or incomplete information.
- While Harvard Pilgrim strives to deliver prompt and responsive service, we are currently experiencing longer than normal turnaround times because of the high volume of activity.
Harvard Pilgrim Plans Impacted by Massachusetts DOI Rate Disapproval Affordable HMO 20
Affordable HMO 25
Affordable PPO 20
Affordable PPO 25
Best Buy HMO 1000
Best Buy HMO 1500
Best Buy HMO 2000
Best Buy HMO 500
Best Buy PPO 1000
Best Buy PPO 1500
Best Buy PPO 2000
Best Buy PPO 500
Core Coverage HMO 1500
Core Coverage HMO 1750
Harvard Pilgrim Bronze HMO 2000
Harvard Pilgrim Bronze HMO 250
Harvard Pilgrim Gold HMO 20
Harvard Pilgrim Silver HMO 1000
Harvard Pilgrim Silver HMO 25
Harvard Pilgrim Silver HMO 500
Premier HMO 10
Premier HMO 5
Premier PPO 10
Tiered Copayment HMO 20
Tiered Copayment HMO 30
Value HMO 15
Value PPO 15
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