MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Registration for a new option for Medicare-eligible West Virginia residents, the Peak Health Advantage Plan, has been running better than expected.
Peak Health President and CEO Ben Gerber said sign up began Oct. 15. He said there has been significant interest and that has translated into enrollments into the plan.
“We’ve had thousands of calls actually from interested folks and the enrollments are starting to come in now,” Gerber said.
The Peak Health Advantage Plan provides typical Medicare coverage, but goes further with provisions for gym memberships, dental and pharmacy benefits. The options bring the cost down and improve communication with providers to increase the ease of use.
“I think a lot of people were very responsive to that and understanding the providers at WVU Medicine were really behind this plan and supportive of it,” Gerber said.
WVU Medicine is one of four non-profit health care providers who jointly own and provide services in the network. The mix of providers in different locations statewide gives plan holders flexibility.
“We also have all the Mountain Health Providers, all of the Marshall providers we have some additional hospitals out in the eastern part of the state affiliated with Valley Health and Winchester,” Gerber said.
The Peak Health Medicare Advantage Plan is currently offered in 29 counties statewide and that will expand. Gerber said some in counties outside of the coverage area are interested in the coverage and will consider a change when availability becomes broader.
“We’ve actually had some folks not in the counties that we offer the product and we’ve had to tell them we’ll hopefully be in your county soon,” Gerber said.
The system’s 30,000 employees were the first to enroll and Gerber said the plan will be an option for small businesses in 2024. Expansion into other areas health insurance markets is also being considered.
“So, we’ll actually be one of the largest providers of third party administered services on January 1,” Gerber said. ” So, we definitely have the scale and bandwidth to serve those employers.”