Towers Watson and Extend Health Inc., operator of the largest private Medicare exchange in the country, have formed a strategic alliance which will provide employers and their Medicare-eligible retirees with health care solutions that combine specialized retiree medical transition consulting with the advantages of individual Medicare plans purchased on a private exchange.
Employers face many financial and administrative challenges when managing Medicare-eligible retiree health care programs. Solutions provided by this merger will simplify transitioning retirees to the individual market, enabling them to manage costs while giving retirees more choice and buying power.
The Towers Watson and Extend Health alliance comes at a time when many companies are reviewing their retiree medical strategy. According to Towers Watson/ISCEBS research, 60 percent of employers that currently offer retiree medical plans are rethinking their programs for 2012 or 2013.
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"Rising costs, health care reform requirements and talent management goals have made providing retiree medical benefits a challenge for employers," said Dave Osterndorf, chief health care actuary at Towers Watson in a statement. "But employers don't need to wait until state-run public insurance exchanges open in 2014 to transition their Medicare-eligible retirees to private individual plans on an exchange."
The Towers Watson/Extend Health solution features a team of Towers Watson retiree medical subject matter experts. The alliance with Extend Health provides a focus on the Medicare market at no additional cost to retirees.
Extend Health is the largest private Medicare exchange in the country, with more employers using Extend Health than any other company to transition their retirees to a private Medicare exchange.
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