YNHHS News Releases

Released July 22, 1999

Yale New Haven Health System to offer
Medicare supplement insurance

The Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) will offer a new program called Yale New Haven Health Senior Assurance, which includes a Medicare supplement insurance plan and a separate package of pharmacy benefits and additional discounts for dental and vision services.

The Medicare supplement insurance plan, underwritten by Monumental Life Insurance Company, features coverage for deductibles and coinsurance for both physician and hospital services, without network restrictions.

Yale New Haven Health Senior Assurance program offers an alternative to HMO Medicare managed care plans. The Yale New Haven Senior Assurance program is not affiliated with Medicare or the state or federal government.

The package of discounts and pharmacy benefits is separate from the Medicare supplement plan and includes other valuable features, such as discounts off many vision and dental services, as well as pharmacy benefits that are provided by York Pharmacy Benefits Management. Network restrictions apply to this portion of the program.

When Medicare was created in 1965, it was never designed to pay for all health care costs, but today’s health care costs are higher than anyone would have ever imagined more than 30 years ago. People over 65 are paying about 20 percent of those costs, on average, out of their own pocket, said William Gedge, YNHHS senior vice president for payer relations.

Yale New Haven Health Senior Assurance offers traditional Medicare users help in meeting the increasing out-of-pocket costs of many services Medicare does not fully cover, he explained.

For more information about Yale New Haven Health Senior Assurance, call 1-800-900-9253.