BIOMEDICAL : Hospital Readies Group Insurance for South County

Saddleback Memorial Medical Center is gearing up to market a group-insurance plan tailor-made for South Orange County’s small-business community.

Judy Simmons, director of public relations for the 215-bed Laguna Hills hospital, says she knows of no other instance in which a company has marketed a group-insurance plan to such a small geographic area, adding: “We are focusing on South Orange County from Irvine through San Clemente.”

Through what it calls the Saddleback Health Network, the hospital is offering an insurance-benefit package that includes its own facility, two urgent-care centers and the services of 200 staff physicians who have agreed to provide substantial discounts to plan members.

Simmons said Saddleback Hospital decided to promote insurance for small businesses after surveying the Saddleback Valley and finding 15,000 employers, 85% of whom have fewer than 10 employees. The smaller businesses included mom-and-pop restaurants, manufacturers, boutiques, dry cleaners and flower shops.

“These small employers often have been excluded from insurance because of the expense,” Simmons said.

John Johnson, vice president of marketing and sales for United Insurance Co. of America, the plan’s underwriter, said test marketing has shown that small employers in the area want a selection of insurance plans that allow employees to share the cost to varying degrees. And some wanted an alternative plan for employees who do not live near the Saddleback hospital.

Several plans, including a preferred-provider organization and more traditional indemnity insurance, are in final design, Johnson said. He added that the plans will be ready for a mass-mailing and telephone-marketing blitz scheduled to begin in mid-February. Richard Jacobs, president of Voluntary Hospitals of America West, said he may recommend a similar health-care plan to the association’s 15 other member hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties.