Berkley Accident and Health has announced that it is strengthening its clinical support aimed at helping clients to lower large claim costs and improving plan sponsors' overall cost of health care.
In a statement, the company said that Berkley Edge reflects its "commitment to developing innovative solutions that can give clients the edge over rising health care costs."
"Berkley Edge has had a transformational impact on our clinical services program to being more than just a 'second set of eyes' on large claims by offering proactive and programmatic analysis and expert advice," said Brad Nieland, the company's president and chief executive officer. "We have a well-documented track record of assisting our clients to lower their health care costs, and Berkley Edge further enhances our capabilities."
Recent studies show that employers want to offer the best, most affordable health care benefits. However, in today's environment, that is becoming increasingly more difficult. An analysis of Berkley Accident and Health's stop loss block data from 2013-2017 showed that the frequency of claims over $1 million had grown by more than 250 percent.
Berkley said that Berkley Edge "delivers expert guidance and health risk strategies to help clients better manage their total cost of health care." The company said that its expanded program included:
- Deeper investment in clinical resources: As part of the Berkley Edge expansion, Berkley Accident and Health said that it has added new clinical staff and invested greater resources to assist clients.
- Proactive review of 100 percent of claims/notices for all clients: Berkley Edge reviews all claims/notices for stop loss and managed care clients – 100 percent of claims, 100 percent of the time – with the goal of identifying client savings opportunities. This service provides an important independent review of large claims that can lead to lower costs for employers, the company said.
- Health risk strategies for stop loss group captives: For group captive programs with 10 or more members, Berkley Edge includes proactive, annual health risk strategy reviews to identify risk "hot spots" and recommend changes to improve overall health plan results.
- Streamlined process: Through a reorganization of the Berkley Edge team to serve clients more efficiently, Berkley said that it has developed a streamlined internal process to best support clients.
Berkley said that Berkley Edge is available at no additional cost to all stop loss, group captive, and managed care clients.
Learn more: BerkleyAH.com.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].