New Insurance option coming to Iowa in 2015

Starting in the fall of 2015, a new partnership among three of the state's largest companies will add a new twist to health insurance.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Hy-Vee and UnityPoint Health announced Blue Rewards on Saturday. The plan brings together Wellmark's insurance options with UnityPoint's physicians and Hy-Vee's retail services as part of the companies' coordination of customer care.

'When you can keep health care local, people do better and it lowers costs,” said Laura Jackson, Wellmark's executive vice president for health care innovation and business development.

Wellmark customers will be able to choose from Bronze, Silver and Gold level Affordable Care Act-compliant health care plans.

Those who purchase Blue Rewards products will have access to Wellmark's entire statewide physician and hospital network but will have lower out-of-pocket costs when they select a UnityPoint Health-associated provider or hospital and fill prescriptions at Hy-Vee pharmacies.

Jackson said the premiums customers pay on these insurance plans will be lower than some of the other plans and products available.

Wellmark, headquartered in Des Moines, is the state's largest insurer, paying benefits claims to more than 2 million people in Iowa and South Dakota. UnityPoint Health, the country's 13th largest health system, operates hospitals in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.

West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee operates 237 retail stores and recorded $8 billion in sales in 2013.

In a phone call with The Gazette on Friday, leaders from the three organizations said this type of collaboration is the first of its kind in Iowa and possibly the country.

'We've worked together for a few years and spoke with consultants who gave us some exposure to what other markets are trying. No one has really done this with companies that have as large of footprints - it's unique to the rest of the country,” Jackson said.

The goal of this new option is to encourage healthy behaviors by integrating Wellmark's insurance plans with UnityPoint's medical home model and Hy-Vee's retail services, including its pharmacy, wellness and dietitian services.

The medical home concept is a more patient-friendly and cost-effective strategy that centers on better care coordination through a team-based approach. UnityPoint's Corridor's clinics are undergoing their medical-home designations and the health system plans to have its Corridor clinics certified by 2015.

Kevin Vermeer, UnityPoint Health's executive vice president and chief strategy officer, said the health system has worked with several providers outside of UnityPoint to improve care coordination, but Hy-Vee is the first retailer with which it has teamed.

Physicians will be able to work with pharmacists and dietitians to coordinate patients' health care, he said.

'We believe our approach, a coordinated care model, will be enhanced through this collaboration,” Vermeer added.

Sheila Laing, senior vice president of Health and Wellness Solutions for Hy-Vee, agreed, noting that the companies want consumers to have access to affordable and convenient health care.

Pending regulatory approval, with which Jackson said she doesn't anticipate any problems, individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase the Blue Rewards option during the 2015 open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15, and Oct. 1 respectively.

Additional product information will be available before the 2015 open enrollment period.

'We are committed to evolving this product,” she said. 'It will change over time.”