Harvard Pilgrim, UnitedHealth to Merge Networks

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and UnitedHealth Group said they will combine Harvard’s regional network of doctors and hospitals with UnitedHealth’s national network in a partnership aimed at national, self-insured employers.

Combining Harvard Pilgrim’s network of 22,000 doctors and 130 hospitals in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine with UnitedHealth’s national network will offer “a simplified administration and care management portfolio in a single, integrated package,” the health care plans said in a news release.

The combined networks will be available for health services beginning Jan. 1.

“This alliance will provide significant value to people receiving their health benefits from large multi-location employers, as it builds on the strengths of our two organizations for their benefit,” said Charles D. Baker, president and chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim.

Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth, the nation’s largest health insurer, is a for-profit company serving more than 55 million people nationwide through six operating businesses.

Welleseley-based Harvard Pilgrim is a nonprofit plan providing coverage in Massachusetts and Maine and is the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England, which serves Vermont and New Hampshire.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press