2020 HealthFirst NY Small Group Health Insurance Updates
Following are some updates that we feel are important to point out for 2020 HealthFirst NY small group insurance plans. During a recent presentation by HealthFirst, we were provided updates on the HealthFirst small business health plans for 2020 on the following topics:
- About HealthFirst
- Small Group Market Overview
- 2020 EPO Plan Designs and Benefits
- NY Future Growth plans
About HealthFirst NY
HealthFirst is a not-for-profit health insurer, sponsored by New York City’s leading hospitals. They have been offering affordable health insurance plans to its members for more than 25 years. HealthFirst has over $10 Billion in annual revenues, employs over 4000 employees, and is one of the largest health insurance companies in the NYC area serving nearly 1.4 Million Members. Originally serving only the individual marketplace, HealthFirst NY small group health plans began to be offered in 2017. They have seen controlled and sustainable growth in the small group market, and their rates have remained steady with low single digits increases on average thru the 2020 calendar year.
HealthFirst small group market overview
HealthFirst NY small group plans remain one of the lowest priced plans in their comparative metal tier vs other carriers and networks. Their focus of market coverage remains the 5 boroughs of NYC, as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties. They maintain a comparable to higher number of primary care and specialists in network vs the other carriers in the low-cost marketplace. Starting in 2020 HealthFirst NY will include over 60 in network hospitals throughout their service area, including NYC Health and Hospitals, Winthrop, Northwell Health, and Mount Sinai hospital systems.
2020 HealthFirst EPO Plan Designs and Benefits
Instead of having a large number of plans and options under multiple metal tiers, HealthFirst NY finds success in having a boutique product portfolio. With 8 plan offerings in all 4 metal tiers, HealthFirst keeps their plans easy to understand. In fact, over 50% of all small group enrollments are with one of the 2 GOLD plan offerings. They also do not have coinsurance on any of their Platinum or Gold level plans for hospital stays, which most other carriers charge coinsurance for. This helps employees better manage large medical costs with simple copays only.
HealthFirst NY Future Growth Plans
The most important of their future growth plans is to maintain continued stability as they grow in the employer market. This implies controlling costs, continuing network and product growth, as well as maintaining a high qualify of service. As a corporate goal, HealthFirst NY guidelines require:
- Average employer or member wait time on hold of under 30 seconds
- Average call resolution time of under 6 minutes
- Average application processing time of 1 day
HealthFirst also maintains a flexible participation guideline that makes doing business with them a whole lot easier. They allow waivers that most other carrier do not, including other employer sponsored coverage as well as individual coverage and NY State Essential Plan coverage.
For more information on HealthFirst NY small group health insurance plans, see our HealthFirst page.