Preferred Care Partners expands services to Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties
Medicare Advantage HMO to offer new plans to Villagers
BY DAVID R. CORDER - david.corder@thevillagesmedia.com
This article appeared in The Villages Daily Sun on September 29th, 2008
THE VILLAGES, FL - Medicare beneficiaries in The Villages are about to get some new choices, including a plan tailored to the community’s active adults.
Preferred Care Partners Inc., a Miami-based Medicare Advantage health maintenance organization, will unveil two new health plans Wednesday as part of an expansion into The Villages.
“We are committed to The Villages,” Joseph Caruncho, the HMO’s chief executive officer, said. “This is a long-term plan. Everything The Villages has done is top-notch. If we’re going in there and offer the plans, they have to rise to the level of all the other services offered there.”
Although he cannot yet discuss details, in compliance with federal regulations, Caruncho described one plan that benefits Villagers who maintain personal wellness.
“Generally, these are folks who are active and have been responsible,” Caruncho said. “So, we’re looking at rewarding those folks. It’s rewarding good health and behavior, if you will.”
To make the plans more convenient for potential beneficiaries, Caruncho said, the HMO has contracted with The Villages Insurance to serve as its general agent.
“We’re going to start marketing and speaking publicly soon about two benefit plans,” Caruncho said. “On Nov. 15, Villagers can enroll for the 2009 benefits year. We’re going to do that through The Villages Insurance. We want our seniors talking with people they already know and trust.”
This is a great opportunity for Villagers, said Brad Brown, The Villages Insurance director of risk management and insurance services.
“I’m excited about it,” Brown said.
And efforts are under way to make enrollment as convenient as possible, Brown added.
“We’ll try to have an agent in each one of our offices,” he said. “We’ll also be hiring some independent enrolling agents to work primarily in the field.”
There’s another twist to the HMO’s expansion into the community.
Unlike other Medicare Advantage plans, the HMO will operate a customer service office in The Villages. It leased space in Lake Sumter Landing Market Square’s little red schoolhouse, 1064 Lake Sumter Landing.
That means Villagers will be talking with customer service representatives who are in the community, Caruncho said.
“We want people to believe this is their hometown health plan,” Caruncho said. “We’re going to have trained staff for customer service. So they’ll be able to come in and get their questions answered.”
Since its formation in 2002, Preferred Care Partners has established a considerable presence in the Florida HMO market.
The HMO ranked 896 on Inc. magazine’s “5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in America.” The firm has about 23,000 enrolled members, who produced 2007 revenue of about $335 million — a 403.2 percent increase over 2004 revenue.
In explaining the growth, Caruncho cited the HMO’s goal of eliminating “unnecessary hassles” for consumers.
“What sets us apart is we’re hassle-free,” Caruncho said. “You don’t have to check with us to go to a specialist. And a specialist doesn’t have to check with us to do routine diagnostics. It’s kind of like common sense. If you go to a cardiologist, he’s going to perform an EKG. It’s the unnecessary hassles we’re trying to eliminate.”
For more information contact:
David R. Corder - reporter with the Daily Sun
Tel: 305-445-7550
david.corder@thevillagesmedia.com
