Aetna Expands Health Plan Options for NY Small Business; New Choices Include Basic Hospitalization Plan and Consumer-Directed Benefit Designs.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Aetna (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AET AET Aetna, Inc. AET After Extra Time AET Actual Evapotranspiration AET Alliance for Environmental Technology AET Alpha-Ethyltryptamine AET Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. ) announced today that it is expanding its small business health plan portfolio to include catastrophic hospitalization hospitalization /hos·pi·tal·iza·tion/ (hos?pi-t'l-i-za´shun) 1. the placing of a patient in a hospital for treatment. 2. the term of confinement in a hospital. plans and consumer-directed benefit designs for small groups. The new plans will be available immediately. "We hear every day from small business owners struggling to balance the need to offer competitive benefit packages in order to attract and retain top talent, with the reality of what they can afford," said James Reid James Reid is the name of:
Of immediate interest to small employers in New York is Aetna's low-cost basic hospital plan which covers hospitalization at 80 percent in-network (50 percent out of network) and includes coverage for three office visits per year (which studies show is the number of times Americans on average visit their physician). "Our goal in designing the hospitalization plan was to prevent small business owners from dropping coverage altogether, thereby increasing the numbers of the working uninsured," Reid explained. The sixteen new plans, specifically tailored to meet small business needs for simplicity, affordability and choice, include traditional indemnity plans indemnity plan, n 1. a plan that provides payment to the insured for the cost of dental care but makes no arrangement for providing care itself. 2. , point-of-service and PPO PPO abbr. preferred provider organization PPO Managed care Preferred provider organization, see there Infectious disease Pleuropneumonia-like organism, see there plans, as well as consumer-directed benefit designs. In addition, Aetna has filed for regulatory approval to offer an HSA-compatible high deductible plan for small business. Each of the new plans is open access so referrals are not required. Prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, coverage is included in some of the plans, and many of the plans can be combined with dental, life and disability benefits. Also attracting interest is Aetna's consumer-directed style "first dollar" coverage plan which covers the first $500 in services ($1,000 for a family) at 100 percent before the deductible comes into play. In this way, small business owners can share in the current trend toward consumerism which seeks to reconnect members with the actual costs of the care they are accessing. Over 95 percent of companies in America are small businesses, and Aetna is committed to advocating on their behalf. In addition to providing employee benefit plans which feature the choice, simplicity and affordability small business demands, Aetna maintains customer service centers that focus exclusively on small companies and provide expert assistance to the brokers and general agents who specialize in advising them. As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 13.4 million medical members, 11.4 million dental members, 8.1 million pharmacy members and 12.6 group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 633,000 health care professionals, including over 377,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 3,866 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com (figures as of June 30, 2004). |
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