Great-West Healthcare is a division of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. Our health care network includes more than 4,275 hospitals and 578,000 physician and ancillary providers nationally and provides health care coverage to more than 5,000 employers and 2.2 million people. 400 sales and support staff serve our customers through group sales offices located throughout the United States.

Great-West’s creative product designs, financial stability, decades of experience and focused, well-trained service staff help provide our customers with benefits that fit their health and business needs. As a provider of health care coverage to more than 4,000 employers and 1.7 million members, Great-West Healthcare, now part of CIGNA, has been pioneering new ideas for nearly 50 years.

About Great-West HealthCare

Great-West HealthCare’s full suite of traditional and consumer-driven products are the foundation of successful health plans. Great-West Healthcare Medical OutreachSM and wellness programs help keep members healthy. And tying it all together is our expertise in self-funding—giving employers the detail needed to see how effective their plan designs are:

• Consumer-driven health care products: HRA, HSA and Great-West Healthcare Consumer AdvantageSM
• Traditional products: PPO, POS, HMO and Open Access plans
• Ancillary products: pharmacy and dental

Great-West HealthCare, Inc.

Corporate Headquarters:
8525 E. Orchard Road 2T3
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
(303) 737-3824
CEO:
Richard Rivers
Employee Number:
400
2008 Revenue:
$15 Million

Product Types Offered

Employers

Over the years, Great-West Healthcare, now part of CIGNA, has built a comprehensive line of employee benefit products and services. Today, more than 4,000 employers and 1.7 million members depend on us for their health care benefits. Explore the many different solutions we offer that help employers face their health care challenges, including:

Consumer-Driven Health Care
The Great-West Healthcare Medical Outreach program focuses on the 10 percent of members who drive nearly 80 percent of costs2, offering tools and information to help members manage chronic conditions, enjoy a healthier lifestyle and manage episodic care.

Compared to traditional health care plans, high-deductible CDHC plans typically carry a considerably reduced employer premium — some employers may experience as much as 18 to 20 percent lower premiums — making CDHC a viable alternative that can bring cost relief to health care budgets at the breaking point.

Self-Funding
With self-funding, the employer pays for actual claims—not anticipated claims—plus a fee for the carrier to administer claims. The employer typically purchases stop-loss insurance to cap its claims liability. For eight years running, health care costs have risen less for self-funded companies than for the fully insured.
Great-West Healthcare offers two ways to self-fund:

• Preferred Funding: Employers pay just a portion of the rate in each of the first two months, and then a full (“mature”) rate for the remaining 10 months. The first two months are discounted by 75 percent in the first month and 50 percent in the second because fewer claims are submitted initially. As a result, Preferred Funding affords special cash flow benefits in the beginning of the plan year. At renewal, the second-year rates remain the same, except for any trend increase (i.e., an increase in the cost of medical products and services) and stop-loss costs.
• ASO Standard: Charges the same flat rate for all 12 months of the first plan year. This is a reduced mature rate, known as an “immature” rate. Employers with ASO Standard pay less per month during the first year, allowing them to more easily budget benefits expenses. Upon renewal, ASO Standard begins billing at a mature rate that is adjusted upward for any trend increase.

Benefit Plans
Great-West Healthcare, now part of CIGNA, offers several Benefit options that encourage members to become better informed and take control of their health care experience:

• Consumer-Driven Plans
  Great-West Healthcare offers several consumer-driven options that encourage members to become better informed and take control of their health care experience. Included in these plans is our national consumer-driven PPO, Great-West Healthcare Consumer AdvantageSM, Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), and Health Savings Account (HSA).
• Traditional Plans

In addition to our consumer-driven plans, we provide flexibility to customers by offering traditional benefit plans that encourage primary care physician (PCP) relationships.

Provider Network

Great-West HealthCare has one of the country’s biggest provider networks. You can use Great-West HealthCare’s online provider directory to learn more about doctors, hospitals, other medical services, dentists, vision care providers and pharmacies that work with your Great-West HealthCare plan.

Network Facts

Health Care Networks:
Great-West Healthcare, now part of CIGNA, offers a network of more than 4,200 hospitals and 645,000 providers nationally and offers health care coverage to more than 4,000 employers and 1.7 million members.

Recent News

Here are some of the most recent news regarding Great-West HealthCare:

Great-West Healthcare receives URAC accreditations for meeting quality standards

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Oct. 15, 2007  – Great-West Healthcare, a national employee benefits provider, today announced it has been awarded provisional case management and full utilization management accreditation from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. The certifications are effective through May 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, respectively. The carrier has held URAC’s health utilization management accreditation since 1997.

URAC’s case management accreditation standards require companies to establish a process to assess, plan and implement case management interventions. Its accreditation process reviews patient protections, such as policies for confidentiality of patient information, informed consent, dispute resolution and other issues. (Continue Reading)

Rating

Great-West HealthCare’s rating, as rated by A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial services industries, including the banking and insurance sectors.

Financial Strength Rating
Rating: A- (Excellent)
Financial Size Category: V ($10 Million to $25 Million)
Outlook: Negative
Action: Affirmed
Effective Date: November 14, 2008