HealthPass NY Enhances Small Employer Health Insurance Plans with Medical Cost Advocate

(I-Newswire) February 9, 2010 - NEW YORK, February 9, 2009 – HealthPass, the New York City-based non-profit health insurance exchange for small employers, today announced a partnership with Medical Cost Advocate Inc. to provide advocacy services to employees who participate in any of its health insurance plans.

Under the arrangement with Medical Cost Advocate (MCA), employees and families enrolled in any of HealthPass’ portfolio of coverage options will have access to the services of MCA’s advocates. Medical Cost Advocate’s professionals personally assist employees with reviewing their medical bills and reducing their out-of- pocket costs by negotiating discounts directly with health care providers.

“We are thrilled to be working with Medical Cost Advocate, especially at a time when employees are being asked to accept more of the responsibility for their health care costs,” said Vince Ashton, executive director of HealthPass. “Employees simply don’t have the time or expertise to understand the complexities of medical bills and explanation of benefits. This unique service gives employees in any of our plans direct access to experts who will review and negotiate all out of pocket expenses, often times reducing costs by as much as 50 percent.”

Medical Cost Advocate professionals will review and negotiate virtually any medical bill, regardless of insurance status or medical procedure. These include in and out-of network bills for full and excess charges, balance bills, deductibles, co-insurance and non-covered services. Employees are only charged for the service when the advocates are successful in saving them money. The Medical Cost Advocate program is the latest enhancement to HealthPass offerings for small employees also including COBRA/State Continuation Administration, the discount Rx cards and Health Advocate, which complements the Medical Cost Advocate offering perfectly.

HealthPass is an innovative partnership that was created in 1999 by the New York Business Group on Health, the City of New York and the health insurance industry. Its original purpose was to offer small businesses quality, affordable health insurance options. This is accomplished through an insurance exchange that allows eligible employees to choose a plan that fits their medical needs and budgets from a wide range of choices of plans and carriers. Today, HealthPass serves more than 3,700 small businesses and non-profit organizations and 33,000 members in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Putnam counties.

“Medical Cost Advocate is delighted to be partnering with HealthPass and helping their members deal with the ever growing complexity and cost of health care bills,” said Derek Fitteron, Chief Executive Officer of Medical Cost Advocate. “Our service not only benefits employees, but also employers who can offer an expanded benefits package that will enhance their ability to attract and retain talented workers.”

About HealthPass New York
An innovative partnership between the New York Business Group on Health, the City of New York, and the health insurance industry, HealthPass provides small businesses and sole proprietors with an array of Fortune 500-quality healthcare options through an insurance exchange.

HealthPass enables eligible employees of small businesses and sole proprietors to choose a healthcare plan that fits their medical needs and budgets. There are more than 30 different coverage options from five leading carriers – EmblemHealth, GHI, Health Net, HIP (Health Plan of New York) and Oxford – as well as two dental plans, and a bundled product offered through Guardian. With more than 200,000 providers, HealthPass affords greater network access than any single plan. For more information, please visit www.healthpass.com.

About Medical Cost Advocate
Medical Cost Advocate (MCA) is a medical cost reduction firm that lowers consumers’ medical bills before or after treatment through professional negotiation. Serving consumers, employers, benefits consultants and financial institutions, MCA leverages a proprietary approach that regularly saves consumers 20% to 50% on their medical and dental bills. With out-of-pocket health care costs steadily increasing, MCA provides the professional advocacy every consumer needs to realize savings without risk. MCA’s services are easy to access through its website. For more information, please visit www.medicalcostadvocate.com

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