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Tufts Health Plan Launches Lifespan Premier Choice, Bringing Quality and More Affordable Care to Rhode Island
[April 01, 2015]

Tufts Health Plan Launches Lifespan Premier Choice, Bringing Quality and More Affordable Care to Rhode Island


Building on their shared commitment to providing access to high-quality, more affordable health care, Lifespan, Rhode Island's largest and most comprehensive health system, has collaborated with the number one-ranked health insurance plan in the country*,

Tufts Health Plan, to introduce Lifespan Premier Choice, a first-of-its-kind tiered network health plan.

In a tiered network plan, hospitals and affiliated physicians are grouped into different levels or "tiers," and members pay different amounts for copayments, coinsurance, and/or deductibles based on the tier designation of their health care provider. With Lifespan Premier Choice, all providers in the Lifespan health system have been designated Tier One, the lowest priced tier, due to their high quality and cost efficiency.

"Through Lifespan Premier Choice, consumers will gain access to an expansive network of top-quality providers and hospitals and coverage from Tufts Health Plan, all at a great value," said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., Lifespan president and chief executive officer. "We are excited about our unique relationship with

Tufts Health Plan because it reinforces Lifespan's efforts to provide high-quality, cost-effective health care and it exemplifies the need for innovative collaborations that can enhance the efficiency of our health care system."

Based on the plan's design, Lifespan Premier Choice offers premium savings up to 10 to 15 percent to comparable plans in the market, ensuring value for employers and members. The product features the Lifespan health system network along with thousands of primary care and specialty physicians who collaborate closely with the Lifespan health system. These include physicians affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital and its pediatric diviion Hasbro Children's Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Bradley Hospital, the nation's first psychiatric hospital for children, Newport Hospital, and Gateway (News - Alert) Healthcare, the state's largest provider of community mental health care. Lifespan includes a robust network of more than 1,800 physicians across the state. Lifespan Premier Choice members can also access the full Tufts Health Plan network of over 25,000 providers in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, allowing for coverage across state lines.



"This is truly a new and unique plan design for Rhode Island that helps employers control their health care costs while giving their employees and their families the choice to see any doctor or hospital from the entire Tufts Health Plan network," said James Roosevelt Jr., CEO of Tufts Health Plan. "We are pleased to work with Lifespan to develop this innovative plan."

Lifespan Premier Choice was approved by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner and will be offered to employers across Rhode Island beginning July 1, 2015.


About Lifespan
Lifespan (www.lifespan.org) is a five-partner not-for-profit health system based in Providence, R.I. Formed in 1994, Lifespan includes three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children's Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital, the nation's first psychiatric hospital for children. It also includes Newport Hospital, a community hospital offering a broad range of health services, and Gateway Healthcare, the state's largest provider of community behavioral health care. Lifespan teaching hospitals are among the top recipients in the country of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The hospitals received $82.9 million in external research funding in fiscal 2014. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services.

About Tufts Health Plan
Founded in 1979, Tufts Health Plan is nationally recognized for its commitment to providing innovative, high-quality health care coverage. Touching the lives of more than one million members, Tufts Health Plan serves members in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, offering health care coverage regardless of age or circumstance.

Tufts Health Plan is ranked the #1 private health plan in the country. Its Medicaid plan is also ranked #1 in the country.* Its Tufts Medicare Preferred HMO and Senior Care Options plans earned a 4.5 Star rating - based on a five star rating - from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for 2015.

For more information, visit TuftsHealthPlan.com.

* The National Committee for Quality Assurance's Private Health Insurance and Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Rankings, 2014-2015.


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