Comments on: Harvard Pilgrim is… http://www.letstalkhealthcare.org/harvard-pilgrim/harvard-pilgrim-is/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:21:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Charlie Baker http://www.letstalkhealthcare.org/harvard-pilgrim/harvard-pilgrim-is/#comment-326 Charlie Baker Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:28:34 +0000 http://www.letstalkhealthcare.org/?p=47#comment-326 Mark - We didn't do too well when we competed in Rhode Island before. I don't know if you know or recall this, but we used to be a pretty decent sized participant in the Rhode Island marketplace. We had about 200,000 members who lived in the Ocean State, and operated several health centers there. We basically lost money in Rhode Island throughout the last half of the 1990's competing against BC/BS of RI, and ended up in receivership in late 1999. The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation then liquidated our business. Virtually everyone ended up getting paid - which was good - and most people were able to transition their insurance coverage to either United or BC/BS of RI (at much higher prices, I might add) - which was also good. But we learned a valuable lesson. If you don't have a lot of money to "invest" in growing market share in a state you're not already in, doing so can be very, very expensive. Too much so for us. I doubt you'll see us in Rhode Island anytime soon, but in the meantime, we do partner with United Health Care to offer products that cross state lines between MA and RI, which for many customers, can be a pretty good alternative to BC/BS of RI. Mark - We didn’t do too well when we competed in Rhode Island before. I don’t know if you know or recall this, but we used to be a pretty decent sized participant in the Rhode Island marketplace. We had about 200,000 members who lived in the Ocean State, and operated several health centers there. We basically lost money in Rhode Island throughout the last half of the 1990’s competing against BC/BS of RI, and ended up in receivership in late 1999. The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation then liquidated our business. Virtually everyone ended up getting paid - which was good - and most people were able to transition their insurance coverage to either United or BC/BS of RI (at much higher prices, I might add) - which was also good. But we learned a valuable lesson. If you don’t have a lot of money to “invest” in growing market share in a state you’re not already in, doing so can be very, very expensive. Too much so for us.

I doubt you’ll see us in Rhode Island anytime soon, but in the meantime, we do partner with United Health Care to offer products that cross state lines between MA and RI, which for many customers, can be a pretty good alternative to BC/BS of RI.

]]> By: Mark Titelbaum http://www.letstalkhealthcare.org/harvard-pilgrim/harvard-pilgrim-is/#comment-290 Mark Titelbaum Thu, 31 May 2007 17:46:39 +0000 http://www.letstalkhealthcare.org/?p=47#comment-290 I am curious to know what it will take for HPHC to return to the Rhode Island marketplace and become competitve with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island? I am curious to know what it will take for HPHC to return to the Rhode Island marketplace and become competitve with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island?

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