HARRISBURG, Pa., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Securing an important relationship in their service expansion plans into southeastern Pennsylvania, HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance have signed a letter of agreement, with St. Luke’s Hospital Bethlehem Campus, St. Luke’s Allentown Campus, St Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital and St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital in the Lehigh Valley. The one-year letter of agreement is effective April 15, 2004, and is expected to provide both organizations time to negotiate a multi-year contract.
HealthAmerica Pennsylvania, Inc., has a 29-year record in providing health benefits plans to employers. HealthAmerica, HealthAssurance Pennsylvania, Inc., and affiliate companies cover over 710,000 members in Pennsylvania and Ohio through HMO, POS, PPO, Medicaid, and Medicare+Choice plans.
St. Luke’s Hospital System includes 800 licensed patient beds in tertiary and acute care hospitals, plus more than 1,400 physicians and other related health organizations. The System serves Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, upper Bucks, eastern Berks, upper Montgomery and Monroe counties and serves a population base of more than 1.5 million people. Related service providers include Visiting Nurse Association of St. Luke’s, Ambulatory Surgery Center in Northampton County, more than 40 owned physician practices, and various outpatient facilities.
In 2003, St. Luke’s Hospital was named one of the nation’s top heart hospitals by the Solucient “100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks for Success” study. St. Luke’s earned the same honor for exceptional cardiovascular services in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In July 2003, U.S. News and Word Report’s list of America’s Best Hospitals ranked St. Luke’s the top heart hospital in Pennsylvania.
HealthAmerica received approval to expand its service area in the Lehigh Valley and in southeastern Pennsylvania in 2003 and has been expanding its network of health care providers in the region since that time. This letter of agreement brings St. Luke’s Hospital System into HealthAmerica’s growing provider network, which also includes the Lehigh Valley Physician Hospital Association, comprising Lehigh Valley Hospital and Lehigh Valley Hospital - Muhlenberg in 2003. Francis Soistman, Jr., president and CEO of HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance, called the agreement with St. Luke’s “a significant milestone” in the expansion activity.
“We are very pleased to have established this important partnership with St. Luke’s Hospital & Health System to deliver services and give our members access to superior health care resources,” Soistman said. “It will greatly enhance our presence in southeastern Pennsylvania as we provide employers and the community with a health plan known for excellent customer service, innovative products, expansive physician and hospital networks, and industry leadership for nearly three decades.”
About HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance
HealthAmerica Pennsylvania, Inc., has a 29-year record in managed care. HealthAmerica, HealthAssurance Pennsylvania, Inc., and affiliate companies cover over 710,000 members in Pennsylvania and Ohio through HMO, POS, PPO, Medicaid, and Medicare+Choice plans. In addition, HealthAmerica earned an “Excellent” Accreditation for its HMO plan and HealthAssurance earned an “Excellent” Accreditation for the HealthAssurance POS by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to measuring the quality of America’s health care. With corporate offices in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, HealthAmerica and HealthAssurance provide managed health care products and services to over 11,000 employers in Pennsylvania and Ohio. For more information, visit HealthAmerica’s Web site at http://www.healthamerica.cvty.com/ .
HealthAmerica Pennsylvania, Inc.; HealthAssurance Pennsylvania, Inc.
CONTACT: Kendall Marcocci, Director of Communications of HealthAmericaand HealthAssurance, +1-717-540-6746
Web site: http://www.healthamerica.cvty.com/
