UnitedHealthcare and Neighborhood Health Partnership Merging to Better Meet South Florida Needs
July 01 2005 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
UnitedHealthcare and Neighborhood Health Partnership Merging to
Better Meet South Florida Needs MIAMI, July 1 /PRNewswire/ --
UnitedHealthcare and Neighborhood Health Partnership (NHP)
announced today the signing of an agreement under which NHP will
merge with UnitedHealthcare, a business unit of UnitedHealth Group.
NHP is a privately owned health plan serving approximately 135,000
residents, primarily in Miami-Dade County, and with customers in
Broward and Palm Beach counties. Completion of the merger is
subject to regulatory approvals, which are expected to take
approximately 90 days. The purchase price for NHP was not
disclosed. Dan Rosenthal, CEO of UnitedHealthcare's South Florida
health plan, said of the merger, "Both NHP and UnitedHealthcare are
focused on providing optimum access to quality, affordable health
care. NHP is widely respected for its strong sense of community and
the way that it responds to the needs of the people it serves. We
appreciate and applaud that commitment, and look forward to the
continuing leadership NHP will provide our combined companies in
this regard. The deep relationships that NHP has with physicians,
hospitals and other providers of health care services in this
community are also noteworthy and an attribute we intend to build
on in the future. In addition, the quality of NHP's customer
service and products are highly complementary to the strengths
UnitedHealthcare has demonstrated in the South Florida
marketplace." Rosenthal concluded, "All of these elements will
allow UnitedHealthcare and NHP to work effectively together and
respond in an even more positive fashion to the unique health and
well-being needs of South Florida and its diverse communities."
Joseph R. Papa, chairman and CEO of NHP, said, "This merger will
allow NHP in the future to offer to its loyal customers the
tremendous set of resources available from UnitedHealthcare. Those
we serve will have access to a broad array of services outside of
our immediate area -- such as a health care network of more than
460,000 physicians and health care professionals and 4,200
hospitals nationwide. In addition, our customers will have access
to products that can supplement our outstanding local health care
services with access to premier centers of clinical excellence for
complex, critical health issues such as organ transplants and
cancer treatments, should they be needed. UnitedHealthcare's
investments in technology will provide our customers with a
simplified administrative experience coupled with useful services
such as information on health care costs, best treatment options,
and portable electronic personal health records. These features
will help us to truly be a consumer-focused company."
UnitedHealthcare's South Florida health plan has been a part of
Miami-Dade County for nearly 30 years, and serves approximately
400,000 customers in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin
counties. It offers employers of all sizes a broad portfolio of
employee benefit plans, including consumer- driven health plans
(which include health savings accounts or health reimbursement
accounts). About Neighborhood Health Partnership NHP is an HMO
licensed by the State of Florida and currently operates in
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Born out of a
coalition between Dimension Physician Hospital Organization and
John Alden Insurance, it has been in operation since 1994. In July
of 2002, NHP was acquired by private interests from the former
provider owners and has grown to become the largest HMO operating
in Miami-Dade County since that time. NHP has its principal offices
at 7600 Corporate Center Drive in Miami. About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group ( http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/ ) is a
diversified health and well-being company dedicated to making
health care work better. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.,
UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services
through six operating businesses: UnitedHealthcare, Ovations,
AmeriChoice, Uniprise, Specialized Care Services and Ingenix.
Through its family of businesses, UnitedHealth Group serves
approximately 55 million individuals nationwide. UnitedHealth Group
ranks No. 40 in the Fortune 500. DATASOURCE: UnitedHealthcare
CONTACT: Roger Rollman, Dir. Of Public Relations - SE, of
UnitedHealthcare, +1-336-540-7636, or cell, +1-336-601-0423; or
Bruce Rubin of rbb Public Relations, +1-305-448-5531, or cell,
+1-305-807-2704 for after hours Web site:
http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/
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