A contract between BayCare Health System and Averde Health, Inc. allows patients of Tampa Bay’s largest health care provider access to a revolutionary payment model that finally makes high-deductible health insurance practical for families.
West Hartford, CT and Tampa Bay, FL – BayCare Health System, the largest community-based health care provider in Tampa Bay with 11 affiliate hospitals, has joined Averde Health’s Guaranteed Payment Network as part of Averde’s expansion into Florida. Averde specializes in high deductible medical benefits and offers a revolutionary healthcare payment model that allows patients to enjoy the benefits of lower insurance premiums while having a financial safety net. The Averde product also benefits health care providers by helping to prevent unpaid medical bills on these types of plans. Rapid increases in health insurance premiums have caused more Americans to choose the much less expensive high-deductible policies that have long been popular among small businesses and the self-employed. Though the premiums are much lower, these policies require the patient to pay a larger amount out-of-pocket, often several thousand dollars a year, before their insurance will pay. That has caused unpaid accounts to become a serious problem for doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. Non-paying patients and the expense of hiring collections, costs providers income. Inability to pay also harms patients’ credit and contributes to many personal bankruptcies. This is the problem Averde Health was created to help solve.
Averde Health assures providers that they will be paid both the patient and the plan portion of the medical bill when clean claims are submitted within 60 days of service. Averde collects directly from patients so doctors don’t have to, saving money on billing and collections. Averde also reduces the confusing blizzard of paperwork that comes with these types of plans as doctors, payors and consumers sort out who owes what to whom. “This drives even more costs out of the system and allows us to deliver a superior product at a price that employers and consumers clearly find compelling,” says Averde founder and CEO Tom Policelli. “Averde’s value proposition is as direct as our tag line: Simplicity, Security, Savingssm.”
Under this newly signed contract, members in Averde plans will gain access to BayCare’s 11 affiliated hospitals and 25 ancillary facilities, which include the following:
St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital in Tampa, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North and Morton Plant North Bay Hospital Recovery Center in Lutz, South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey, Mease DunedinHospital and BayCare Alliant Hospital in Dunedin, Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, BayCare Outpatient Imaging in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Largo, Trinity and Dunedin, ambulatory surgery centers in Largo, Trinity, and St. Petersburg, the Harbor and BayCare Life Management facilities in Newport Richey, Dade City, Brooksville, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, John Knox Village in Tampa, Morton Plant Rehabilitation Center in Clearwater, and BayCare HomeCare, which provide home health services in Alachua, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Sumter counties and DME and infusion services in Alachua, Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Sumter and the additional counties of Charlotte, Hardee, Highlands and Lee counties.
Tampa Bay is the latest Florida market to welcome Averde as a new competitor in individual and group health benefits. Averde’s rapid expansion across the state has included Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Miami.
About Averde Health
Averde Health was founded by visionary health insurance executives who recognized the need for a better health care model that puts them in partnership with doctors and hospitals while allowing patients a simple way to manage their health care expenses. By solving problems for health care providers, Averde drives administrative costs out of the system, and helps hold down costs.
Contact:
Roberta D. Wachtelhausen
Sr. Vice President, Averde Health
Sales and Marketing
Averde Health, Inc.
860-270-0243
bert@averdehealth.com
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