Health insurers Harvard Pilgrim, Kaiser Permanente and Priority Health each launched lower-cost, telehealth-first plans in 2020 and have reported varying rates of adoption, according to an April 15 NEJM Catalyst report.
Seattle-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington in September unveiled its new Virtual Plus plan for direct-to-consumers and employer groups. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Wellesley, Mass., teamed up with Doctor on Demand to launch its SimplyVirtual plan, which is available to large employers in Connecticut; and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Priority Health's MyPriority Telehealth PCP plan is available to members who want more online interactions with providers.
Each of the payers' telehealth-first plans became available Jan. 1. Here are 11 numbers to know about the health plans, according to the report.
- Harvard Pilgrim has sold one group account out of 60 employer groups pitched. The health plan has filed the product in three states to make it available to groups of tens of thousands of members across New England. The company's pricing for the SimplyVirtual plan is 8 percent below a traditional HMO product.
- Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States launched its Virtual Forward plan with medium-to-large group employers and expects about 1,000 members in this first year. The health plan offers its Virtual Forward products at a rate of 15 percent to 20 percent below its traditional offerings.
- Priority Health enrolled 5,000 members in its MyPriority Telehealth PCP plan for 2021, more than 2,000 of whom transitioned from other Priority Health products. The company went to market with a premium for the telehealth-first plan that is 6 percent to 8 percent lower, on average, than its other plan offerings.
Click here to view the full report.