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Great-West Healthcare Added to Meritain's Provider Network

By Jonathan D. Epstein | Buffalo News 
January 24, 2008

Meritain Health, an Amherst-based health insurance company, is adding a network of more than 500,000 healthcare providers to its options for customers.

BUFFALO, NY - The third-party health plan administrator, formerly known as North American Health Plans, said Wednesday it signed an agreement with Denver based Great-West Healthcare to give Meritain clients access to Great-West's national provider network. The network includes more than 4,275 hospitals and 578,000 doctors.

Meritain already works with about 130 physician networks nationwide, and maintains its own system of 15,000 doctors and 200 hospitals in upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania, Vermont and western Massachusetts. It recently signed an agreement with Aetna giving its members access to the health insurance giant's national PPO network.

Meritain, which is owned by Connecticut-based Prodigy Health Group, is the nation's largest independent third-party administrator of self-funded health plans. That means it manages the plans, networks, service, and other functions for large employers that pay their own health insurance costs rather than using a full-service insurer.

The company serves more than 1,400 employers in more than 30 industries, with more than 1 million members, and it processes more than $1.5 billion in claims annually. It employs 1,350 in 30 offices, including 400 in Amherst.

Great-West is a national employee benefits company that specializes in self-funding and health care management. It and parent Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. are part of Montreal-based Power Financial Corp.

jepstein@buffnews.com