Hi Marcie, I have no position in Oxford Health. I found
the following post on AOL and thought it might be of
interest to you and others on this thread:
Subject: Re: Near bottom - Competition
Date: Sat, Nov 8, 1997 09:05 EST
From: ACtri
<< they are the hmo choice these days, and competition
is starting to get thin in the business which means
they will get some pricing advantage in the future>>
ARE YOU KIDDING!
They are floundering in what has become the single most competitive market in the country.
I consult on health insurance everyday and Oxford today is the second most expensive carrier in the marketplace (up from the absolute lowest price 18 months ago). the competitors are all making money at 12%-25% below Oxford's price with networks that are 80% the size of Oxford's. This company's two selling points have been price and network, all the other stuff (alternative care, etc.) is fluff. Not only are the networks close to the same size they have used Oxford's directory to recruit.
I switched three clients from Oxford last month (before this debacle). The physician disruption match (doctors that the employees use compared to the network) of the carriers my clients chose were 69%, 73%, and 86%. These networks are using the Oxford directory as a recruiting tool. My clients saved 13%, 18%, and 20% respectively, and in two cases enhanced benefits. The largest (the 13% one) saved over $160,000 a year by switching.
The current competition is getting fierce - United Healthcare is going after everything, CIGNA is back in the smaller employer market very aggressively, Blue Cross is stronger then they have been in years and they are quoting rates at least 25% below Oxford for better plan designs, Prudential just committed over $25 million to the New York market (they hired numerous of reps, doubled the size of the network, and are awaiting approval of a rate filing that they claim will make them the lowest in the industry bar none), and a bottom feeder like NYLCare is expanding their network radically. Aetna is the only one that does not have it's act together in NY yet, but they will soon.
That is just the current competition. Two of the largest managed care companies in the country are finally fulfilling their dreams of moving into New York Metro. Foundation Health Systems will be moving in using their purchase of PHS as a platform, and this company has a long history of cannibalizing markets by extremely low pricing (FHS has some of the deepest pockets in the industry). Wellpoint will be moving in more cautiously but aggresively in the over 50 employee market. And beyond this the successful New Jersey/Philadelphia company AmeriHealth has jumped the river, and Anthem is buying up Blue Cross's to create a Tri-State platform.
This market has never been as competitive as it will be in 1998!!! This is not the time to be stumbling and falling on your face. In fact, this is exactly what all those companies above have been waiting for. |
