You were the first to hear about our new alliance with CIGNA Health Care that gives you a new, simpler national option for your clients:

• One administrator means no hassles, faster claims and consistent coast-to-coast coverage.
• No duplicate fees and more competitive discounts, so you can pass the savings on to your clients.
• Two national leaders, open access to 470,000 providers, better discounts and superior service.

National coverage doesn’t get any better – and now your clients can have the comprehensive coverage they’ve been waiting for.

healthpartners.com/coast2coast

The good news is that our pharmacy trends are staying well within single digits – but pharmacy costs still represent 21% of total health care costs. That means managing pharmacy trend is critical to successful management of medical trend.

We’re already way ahead of the game on delivering more pharmacy savings – that’s why our 2005 eValu8 results for Pharmaceutical Management had us beating the competition by 30 points on a 100-point scale.

Increasing the use of generic drugs is one key strategy we’re using to keeping pharmacy trends low.

Consider the facts based on 2005 data:

• Brand name drug costs increased twice as fast as generics last year.
• Average drug cost: brand $130 / generic $23.

The benefits of increasing generic use are significant. A 1% increase in generic use is equivalent to a 1.5% decrease in overall pharmacy costs – that’s a 0.30% decrease in overall medical costs.

Our Pay for Performance physician incentives continue to aggressively promote increased generic drug prescribing. And we’re also seeing brokers increasingly use benefit design strategies to engage consumers in selecting generics.

Over the past two years, consumer copays held steady at 21.4% of pharmacy costs. This reverses a trend of declining consumer financial impact over the prior three years – with a low of 19.6% in 2003. For 2005, the average copayment for brand drugs was $21.63 and for generic $12.24.

Our generic utilization rates top the market. And we keep improving. Last year our generic rates exceeded 60%, which is up from 50% in 2004. The bottom line: HealthPartners delivers bigger pharmacy savings to your clients and better savings to their employees.

See for yourself at the Pharmacy section of healthpartners.com.

Bring your clients to the 2006 HealthPartners Employer Symposium on June 13. You’ll give them solid trend-busting strategies to better manage their health care. Our program features local and national experts – including a panel discussion with Purchasers, discussing their solutions to tackling health care costs. Seats are limited, so make sure you make your reservations and invite your clients today.

As you know, we file our formal small employer rates with the State of Minnesota every July 1.  Within that filing, our actuaries analyze experience by benefit plan, area and age bands, as well as a number of other variables.  Some of the factors within the age band rates are changing slightly. The following table reflects those changes.

Effect of Change in Age Factor

The first Annual Enrollment to enroll in the new Prescription Drug Plan (Part D) ended May 15, 2006.  Medicare beneficiaries who choose not to enroll (during the initial open enrollment or when they first become eligible) may enroll later, but they will pay higher premiums when they enroll, unless they can prove that they have had “creditable coverage”.

The next Annual Enrollment will be November 15, 2006 through December 31, 2006 for a January 1 effective date. If you have clients that have Medicare, here are a few helpful facts on Medicare Part D.

• HealthPartners will send out revised Creditable and Non-Creditable coverage disclosure notices based on the requirements as outlined in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003. There are four disclosure notices including Creditable Coverage Disclosure (standard or personalized) and Non-Creditable Coverage (standard or personalized). The standard revised disclosure notices will be used in new member and renewal material. The personalized disclosure notices will be used upon the beneficiary’s request.

• Notices will be sent to members under and over age 65 who are enrolled in a HealthPartners active plan with prescription drug coverage. The notice will educate members on Medicare Part D eligibility and enrollment.

• If members are eligible, but decide not to enroll in Part D, then the MMA will impose a late enrollment penalty. Individuals who do not maintain Creditable Coverage for a period of 63 days or longer following their initial enrollment period for the Medicare prescription drug benefit will be penalized.For more information please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) website.

healthpartners.com/medicare

We’re constantly expanding to better meet the needs of your clients and their employees. In fact, in the last year alone, we’ve added more than 500 clinics regionally. This means our Open Access network rivals Blue Cross’ Aware network, which claims to include 96 percent of health care providers in the state. Our recent additions include:

Medical – Minnesota
Albany Medical Center, Albany
Alexandria Clinic, PA, Alexandria
Osakis Medical Center, Osakis
Chain of Lakes Medical Clinic, Cold Spring
Eastside Medical Clinic, Belgrade
Eden Valley Area Medical Clinic,  Eden Valley
North Valley Family Medicine Clinic, East Grand Forks
Paynesville Area Medical Clinic, Paynesville
Richmond Area Medical Clinic, Richmond
Watkins Area Medical Clinic, Watkins

Medical – Wisconsin
Cumberland Medical Clinic, Cumberland
Southside Medical Clinic, Eau Claire

Medical – South Dakota
Richardson Family Medicine Clinic LLC, Sioux Falls

Dental – Minnesota
Beautiful Dentistry, Edina
Midwest Dental, Albertville
Noesen and Associates, Red Wing
Metro Dentalcare, PLC, Chanhassen

Important Contacts
Our Group Medical Plans
Our Group Dental Plans
Our Achieve ^SM Health Improvement Programs
Our CareSpan ^SM Disease Management Programs
Direct Connect to Broker Portal
Network Updates