Mayflower Municipal Health Group, which includes Hingham, Recognized with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Municipal Blue Innovation Award

Mayflower Municipal Health Group, which includes Hingham, Recognized with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Municipal Blue Innovation Award

Group achieves $1.5 million in health care savings through plan design changes

BOSTON — March 18, 2013 – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), the trusted health plan of cities and towns for more than 75 years, announced that Mayflower Municipal Health Group*, is a recipient of its fifth annual Municipal Blue Innovation Awards. The Municipal Blue Innovation Awards – a first-of-a-kind program in Massachusetts – recognizes cities and towns for successfully implementing plan design changes and health and wellness initiatives to make health care more affordable, while improving employee health. The award will be presented, along with a $5,000 wellness grant, to Mayflower at Halifax Town Hall on March 20 at 11 a.m.

Mayflower Municipal Health Group worked with their consultant Group Benefits Strategies (GBS) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to offer three new insurance plans to meet the needs of the 34 participating groups in its health care purchasing arrangement. Offerings include three Blue Cross Network Blue plans and three Blue Care Elect Preferred PPO plans. Two of the new plans have deductibles, copays, tiering and other comparable features similar to those offered through the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC). Both plans provide opportunities for significant cost-savings when employees seek care from low cost, high-quality hospitals - and cities and towns benefit from lower premiums.

“Enrollment in the new Blue Cross plans for policy year 2012-2013 alone collectively saved Mayflower

$1.5 million in health care costs, and some member units set up a mitigation fund to help offset co-payment changes,” said Michael Levy, chairman of the steering committee. “We could not have achieved this without Blue Cross’ innovative health plan designs. This also demonstrates the meaningful results that management and unions can accomplish by working together.”

“I’d like to congratulate the Mayflower group for proving that significant cost reductions are possible without sacrificing quality care,” Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) said. “Some towns in my district will see lower premiums and employees will experience better health thanks to innovative plans and wellness programs that are now available. This is real progress that can be duplicated across the Commonwealth and the nation. Since passing landmark health care reform in 2006, Massachusetts has continued its mission of expanding access, improving health and finding ways to bring down costs. Through everyone’s ongoing collaboration and cooperation, I hope we will see more results like this. The Mayflower Municipal Health Group deserves to be recognized for its achievement.”

“The health and wellness of our membership are also important concerns to the Mayflower Municipal Health Group,” said Sheila Avery and Kelly Morse Perez who both lead the wellness program. “By establishing a wellness committee with representatives from our member units, and by listening to our members we have been able to create a wellness program that is meaningful and effective. Successful programs include wellness grants for member units, biometric and health screenings, fitness classes and challenges, onsite health seminars and targeted educational outreach and incentive based programs. We distribute a quarterly wellness newsletter and include wellness information on our website: www.mmhg.org. We are also on Facebook and Twitter.”

Notable wellness accomplishments include:

• Walking Challenges: 17 groups participated in the Fall Walking Challenge. Nearly 200 walkers completed over 10,000 miles collectively in 30 days. Studies show that regular walking provides many benefits such as lowering your risk of health problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. Walking can help manage weight, improve your mood and give you more energy.

• Blue Care Line: The group also promoted the Blue Cross Blue Care Line, a 24-hour nurse care line members can call with medical questions. Speaking with a registered nurse before making a trip to the doctor or emergency room is a convenient way for members to seek medical advice. The Blue Care Line can help encourage appropriate level of care and can save on health care costs such as copays and deductibles. The group saw a 129% increase in utilization of the Blue Care Line in the six months following the campaign.

• Health Seminars and Screenings:  Groups like the Town of Rochester are providing employees with free health seminars and screenings. Rochester offered a Preventing Skin Cancer seminar and screening to employees of the police department on town time to ensure that all department members could attend. Screenings can be critical in detecting early signs and symptoms.

“Blue Cross works directly with the state’s cities and towns to help them develop customizable health plans and wellness solutions,” said Larry Croes, BCBSMA’s Vice President of Commercial & Municipal Markets. “We applaud this year’s Municipal Blue Innovation Award recipients, who are on the forefront of making sustainable changes that will improve the health of their workforce and help lower health care costs for their communities.”

BCBSMA provides more than 75% of the cities and towns in Massachusetts with health insurance and is committed to partnering with them to reduce health care costs while improving the health of their employees. Past Municipal Blue Innovation Award winners include:

• 2012: Gardner, Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, Middleborough, Scantic Valley Regional Health Trust
• 2011: Amesbury, West Springfield, Gateway Health Group
• 2010: Arlington, Beverly, Lexington, Peabody, Reading, Berkshire Health Group
• 2009: Haverhill, Wachusett Regional School District, Wakefield, Lowell, Mansfield

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.com) is a community-focused, tax-paying, not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Boston. We are committed to working with others in a spirit of shared responsibility to make quality health care affordable. Consistent with our corporate promise to always put our 2.8 million members first, we are rated among the nation’s best health plans for member satisfaction and quality. BCBSMA is proud to provide health coverage to more than 250,000 municipal employees, their families and to 120,000 federal employees.

*The Mayflower Municipal Health Group is a health care Joint Purchasing Arrangement comprised of Brockton Area Transit, Carver Marion Regional Refuse Disposal District, North River Collaborative, Onset Fire District, Silver Lake Regional, South Shore Vocational, South Shore Regional Emergency Communication Center, South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., Wareham Fire District, Whitman-Hanson Regional, South Shore Educational Collaborative, Plymouth County, Bristol County, Norfolk County, Plymouth County Retirement Association, Southeastern Regional Transit Authority, Water Works Abington/Rockland and the Towns of Abington, Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Scituate, Plympton, Rochester, Whitman, West Bridgewater and Rockland.