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HealthPartners lowers administrative costs for third consecutive year.
April 18, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - For the third consecutive year, HealthPartners reported lower administrative costs. Excluding taxes and assessments, administrative expenses in 2006 fell to 5.9% from 6.4% in 2005. Ninety two percent of health plan premiums went directly to patient care. Net income ($30 million) was one percent of revenue.
"Our goal is to make health care affordable for all Minnesotans," said Mary Brainerd, HealthPartners president and CEO. "We need to keep focused on improving health care quality and keeping administrative costs low" she added.
HealthPartners is increasing the use of the website to create more convenient and cost-effective service for members. For instance, members can use a personalized and secure webpage to receive communications from providers and the health plan. In addition, in the past year 83% of all claims were processed electronically, ensuring prompt and accurate payment to providers. HealthPartners is also using the Toyota lean process to streamline workflows. This reduced expenses by an estimated $3 million in 2005.
Key cost drivers
Medical expenses rose 10% in 2006 over the previous year. The main cost drivers were:- Diagnostic imaging (10% increase)
- Specialty pharmacy (12% increase)
- Hospital services (7.8% increase)
Membership growth
For the second year in a row, HealthPartners reported solid membership growth according to financial reports filed with the state. Medical and dental membership grew by over 21,000.
About HealthPartners
Founded in 1957, the HealthPartners (www.healthpartners.com) family of healthcare companies serve more than one million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation, providing care, coverage, research and education to improve the health of members, patients and the community. For the third year in a row, HealthPartners is rated one of the best commercial health plans in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, NCQA's "America's Best Health Plans 2007" and is ranked "Highest in Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Region" by J.D. Power and Associates.
Contact: 952-883-5308
Pager: 612-527-1921
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