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Health insurance options announced for employees at Stanford, Packard hospitals

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Health insurance options announced for employees at Stanford, Packard hospitals

Stanford Hospital and Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have contracted with CIGNA HealthCare to provide an HMO plan for their employees and retirees, effective Jan. 1, 2002. The announcement coincides with a separate agreement between CIGNA and Stanford Hospital and Clinics in which CIGNA members will have access to Stanford physicians, who will be reimbursed by CIGNA on a "fee-for-service" basis.

"We're very pleased with the product we're offering our employees, and we're happy to include a plan that provides access to Stanford faculty," said Rosemary Monroe, director of human resource services for the hospitals.

The CIGNA HMO plan is one of three options that hospital employees and retirees will have when choosing a health care provider for 2002. Employees and retirees will be able to select from a CIGNA HMO, a CIGNA PPO (preferred provider option) or a Kaiser Permanente HMO. The Blue Shield, HealthNet and PacificCare plans will no longer be available.

Monroe said CIGNA is comparable to other health plans - including those that will no longer be offered - in terms of size, services and network physicians. "Ninety-six percent of Blue Shield and HealthNet physicians currently being used by Stanford and Packard employees are part of the CIGNA HMO or PPO networks," Monroe said.

She said the CIGNA HMO plan will be available to hospital employees and retirees and their dependent children at no cost to them.

The changes in health care options follow the decision by Stanford Hospital and Clinics to exit HMO agreements that reimburse physicians for their services on a capitated or "fixed-rate" basis at the end of the current calendar year. The decision was made as part of an ongoing plan to implement various cost-cutting options in the hospital.

Stanford Hospital and Clinics has been working since May with six health care companies - CIGNA, Blue Shield, HealthNet, PacificCare, Blue Cross and Aetna - to negotiate rates that reflect the actual cost of health care. CIGNA, which has more than 3,300 HMO members, is the first HMO contract Stanford has signed since the announcement. Under the "fee-for-service" agreement, CIGNA will pay physicians for each individual service provided to patients.

Hospital employees and retirees will choose their health care plans during the open-enrollment period in October. Monroe said additional information on the health care changes will be sent to employees and retirees in coming weeks.

Jim Franklin, director of staff recruitment and retention for Stanford University, said health care options for university employees are still being determined.