2023 brought a flurry of excitement and success in the world of Wellfleet Student.
For starters, Wellfleet turned 30 years old. We’re proud of how far we’ve come in three decades and excited for what’s to come in the next 30 years.
The year also brought growth, with a few key additions to our leadership team. And, always focused on students, we improved the member experience in several ways — ranging from our cost of care tool and Wellfleet Rx formulary updates to inclusive care guidelines and reducing costs for members.
Read on for a snapshot of our key moments from 2023.
Wellfleet celebrated 30 years in student health
Wellfleet celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2023! We are thankful for three decades of building lasting partnerships and offering exceptional service to our clients.
Starting as a third-party administrator in a tiny office with fewer than 10 employees, we have grown to be a leading provider of student health insurance — in addition to our workplace and special risk products.
“I’ve had the honor to lead an organization that is dedicated to its market and its members. Through innovation, we have expanded our footprint and impacted people in countless positive ways. I am truly proud of the work this team puts in every day to help our clients and partners,” said Wellfleet’s President & CEO, Drew DiGiorgio.
See the journey of how we started and what we’ve accomplished in the last thirty years.
Our team expanded
In a year with so much to celebrate, Wellfleet also added several new members to our team. We brought in people across all areas of the company to support our continued growth.
Our Student Health division gained two key leaders in 2023, Brian Judy and Jessica Macdonald.
Brian Judy began at the start of the year as the Executive Vice President of Student Health. Our Student Health division has strengthened under his leadership, and we are sure to see continued growth in the years to come.
Additionally, at the end of 2023, Jessica MacDonald joined our team as Vice President of Business Development. In her role, she heads up the strategic development of new business opportunities and prospective partnerships for student health, focused on articulating our value as a student-centric health insurance plan.
We launched the Cost of Care Estimator tool
Wellfleet launched our Cost of Care estimator tool, which helps estimate costs before surgery and other medical services.
The tool approximates the member’s out-of-pocket costs based on the member’s insurance coverage, deductibles, copays, and coinsurance.
We built this tool to provide value to student members in the following ways:
- Cost savings: Members can choose a cost-effective provider and treatment.
- Quality care: Members can find top-rated providers.
- Easier budgeting: Members can plan and act strategically with their money.
Learn more about the Wellfleet Cost of Care tool.
We secured a lot of savings — including $196,000 for a school plan and $4,300 for a member
Wellfleet Student is committed to the needs of students, and we understand that affordability is a big deal for those in college. That’s why we scrutinize high-dollar claims, which often result in savings for school plans as well as members.
For example, one of our students became a parent, and their hospital bill did not accurately reflect the baby’s care. When we corrected the bill, we were able to secure significant savings for the member as well as the plan. The member’s out-of-pocket costs decreased from $5,000 to $683, a savings of $4,317.
In addition to the member out-of-pocket savings, this correction also led to huge plan savings, lowering the cost from $203,206 to $6,831, a reduction of $196,375.
Read the full case study here.
We provided more inclusive healthcare for our students
Because our health plan focuses on college-aged students, we are experts at providing care that meets the unique needs of this population group.
Our team is committed to providing LGBTQIA+ members access to quality gender-affirming care. Our student health plans include comprehensive coverage for gender-affirming care, with options based on the needs of our partner schools.
Learn more about how we approach gender-affirming care.
We showcased our ability to create custom network solutions
In 2023, we published a case study detailing how we created a custom network for a client. A large public university, the client was looking for a quality in-state network and out-of-state network, as well as the ability to add custom behavioral health providers to their network.
Because Wellfleet is not tied to a specific network, we were able to create a solution that was ideal for this client’s needs, including 80,000+ in-state providers, more than 1 million national providers, and an additional 1,000 local behavioral health providers.
“We were able to deliver the very best for them even though it didn’t exist in the market already,” said Brian Judy, Executive VP of Student Health at Wellfleet.
Read the full case study to learn more about how we can create a custom provider network.
We updated our student formulary
To stay abreast of updates and advancements in healthcare pharmaceuticals, the Wellfleet Rx team makes regular updates to our student-centered formulary, which is completed twice each calendar year.
In 2023, we updated the formulary with:
- Unlimited $0.00 copay naloxone
- More weight loss medications
- Another HIV medication
- Other cost-saving changes focused on using generics rather than brand-name medications
Read more about our 2023 formulary updates.
Our partnership plan produced long-term success
Our Partnership Plan continued to benefit our participating schools in 2023.
One of our partner schools, a public university in the U.S. with 2,500 members on the student health plan, has been a part of the Partnership Plan since 2015. The school has received a return of premium every year except one, totaling more than $1.6 million in refunded premiums over the years.
Basing our underwriting on your past performance and future predictions, we return any premium difference to you the following year. Schools can then refund the premium to students, reduce future premiums, or use the funds to improve student health on campus.
New and current partner schools can elect to join the Partnership Plan, a program designed to foster a long-term partnership between partner schools and Wellfleet.
Learn more about the Wellfleet Partnership Plan.
We supported students’ mental health
The prevalence of mental health struggles among college students is staggering. Many students across the nation are struggling, and recent years have seen their mental health take a significant toll.
Mental health is essential to the success and well-being of students, which is why we spend so much time optimizing what’s available to our members. We provide robust in-person and telehealth behavioral health options to reduce the barriers to care.
Additionally, we go the extra mile for our students, such as helping one student receive an extended stay at a treatment facility. Read more about how we helped this student combat depression.
Learn more about Wellfleet
As a health insurance carrier created for students, Wellfleet is constantly optimizing our products to serve our student members better. Whether through pharmacy benefits, medical services, behavioral health resources, or cost-saving strategies, we always put students first.
Connect with us to learn more about how Wellfleet can create a tailored solution for your students in the new year.
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