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Great-West Healthcare Rolls Out Free Employee Education
Program Will Help Employers Control Health Care Costs
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CO, Aug. 26, 2004 — Think the cost of gasoline is rising fast? The cost of health care is rising 13 times faster. So say posters in lunchrooms, cubicles and hallways of businesses with group health coverage from Great-West Healthcare. At no charge, the health plan is providing its more than 5,000 employer customers with Driver’s Ed – Roadmap to Smarter Health Care ChoicesSM, the only such national program that teaches employees the true cost of health care and how they can help control those costs.
“We chose the name Driver’s Ed because of the obvious parallel,” explained Cindy Donohoe, vice president of marketing and product development for Great-West Healthcare. “You would never put an inexperienced driver on the road without driver’s education. We can’t expect employees to be savvy health care consumers unless we educate them on the costs, options and tools available to them -- the ‘rules of the road’ for getting the most out of their health plans.”
Great-West Healthcare today launched the program with plan administrators at companies nationwide, providing them with four ready-to-use resources: a member newsletter, The Driver’s Seat, that can be printed or electronically forwarded to employees; a poster that can be printed and displayed at workstations and in common areas; an insert that can be enclosed in each member’s payroll envelope; and a link to a Web site where plan administrators can retrieve current and past newsletters.
Each edition of The Driver’s Seat covers three topics: the true cost of health care, how consumer decisions help control costs and how members can save money. Initially, newsletters will be published bimonthly by Great-West Healthcare.
“Employers have endured double-digit increases in health care costs for years, and with an aging workforce, brand drug advertising and costlier medical equipment, costs will continue to rise,” Donohoe said. “The first step is acknowledging that we all have a role in controlling health care costs – health plans, providers, employers and employees. Our
Driver’s Ed program teaches employees what they can do to help control costs and save money in the process.”
One of the posters, for example, tells members they can save $50 a month on average by choosing a generic drug instead of a brand name. A newsletter graphic shows what an employee’s premium pays for and reveals that U.S. companies spend more than $6,000 a year on each worker’s health care. And a payroll stuffer concisely lists “Five Easy Ways to Keep Costs Down.”
“Each of us needs to be engaged in making informed health care decisions,” said Donohoe. “Whether your company offers a traditional PPO or HMO, or is rolling out a new consumer-driven plan, upfront education will put you and your employees in the driver’s seat and give you greater control.”
The nationwide launch of Driver’s Ed follows Great-West Healthcare’s successful pilot of the employee education program to some 125 clients earlier this summer. Donohoe said the program meets a need expressed by customers in a survey last year by the health plan. Survey respondents said they wanted to educate their plan members on how to use their health plan wisely, but did not have the time or resources to provide the information.
Customers reported that they desired an easy-to-use, self-contained program that would not pose an administrative burden to their HR staffs. About 70 percent believed Driver’s
Ed would help educate employees about the factors influencing health care costs, while an overwhelming majority said that in one year the program would likely improve purchasing and decision-making behaviors.
About Great-West Healthcare
Great-West Healthcare, a division of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, is a national employee benefits provider with expertise in self-funding and health care management solutions. Nationally, the division operates a health care network that includes more than 5,300 hospitals and 515,000 providers and provides health care coverage to approximately 1.9 million people. Visit www.greatwesthealthcare.com for more information.
Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, headquartered in metro-Denver, serves its customers through a full range of health care plans, life and disability insurance, annuities, and retirement savings products and services. It is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc. and a member of the Power Financial Corporation group of companies. Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company is not licensed to do business in New York. Products are sold in New York by its subsidiary First Great- West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, Albany, N.Y.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: PDFs of member materials sent to employers are available to the media. Please contact Loren Finkelstein.