Why didnt the university switch from Group Health Options, Inc. to another carrier?
We reviewed the possibilities with our benefits consultant and decided against a change in carriers for the following reasons: We were able to design a solid array of plan choices and price levels with Group Health Options, Inc. We cant change our claims history. The handful of fully-insured health insurance carriers who do business in Washington would have required our claims history before submitting proposals. Less than 20% of the universitys claims are out-of-network claims. We wanted continued access to Group Health Cooperative physicians and facilities because of the high proportionmore than 80%–of in-network claims. We didnt want faculty and staff members with long-standing relationships with Group Health Cooperative providers to have to establish new relationships with other medical care providers outside of Group Health Cooperative. Former Regence subscribers had to acclimate to a major change in January of 2003 when Regence decided not to offer their PPO plan to the universi
