Harvard Pilgrim, 2 health systems to offer health plan to employers

Massachusetts insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and two New Hampshire health systems reached an agreement to market a narrow-network health plan to employers. Harvard Pilgrim and the two health systems will share financial risk.

The new plan's premium will be 10% lower than rates for other Harvard Pilgrim health plans. The provider network will be limited to the Elliot Health System, in Manchester, N.H., Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, N.H., and additional hospitals and affiliated medical groups, said a Dartmouth-Hitchcock spokesman. The other hospitals are: 140-bed Cheshire Medical Center, Keene, N.H.; 25-bed New London (N.H.) Hospital; and the 166-bed Southern New Hampshire Medical Center, Nashua, N.H.

The health plan will be sold to employers but will not be marketed on New Hampshire's federally operated health insurance exchange in 2014. Joan Fallon, a spokeswoman for Harvard Pilgrim, said the insurer and providers agreed to jointly share financial risks based on cost and quality performance. The plan, named ElevateHealth, is scheduled to begin coverage as of Dec. 1. No employers have yet contracted with the plan, Fallon said.

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