Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, N.H. providers start new company

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has joined three New Hampshire hospitals to create a new company that it promises will "take healthcare coordination to a new level." The company, called Benevera Health, will use clinical, financial and operational data to help local healthcare advocates identify opportunities to engage with patients, particularly ones with complex or chronic conditions. The venture is not an insurance company, but it will support Harvard Pilgrim's more than 80,000 fully insured members regardless of their health plan. The provider partners--Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Elliot Health System and Frisbie Memorial Hospital--also will get a say in how Harvard Pilgrim's insurance products are designed. Additionally, the health plan expects that premiums for its members will be about 4 percent lower in 2016 than they would be without the new partnership. Announcement