Waukesha-based HumanaOne, a division of Humana Inc., today launched a new portfolio of individual health insurance plans designed to make it easier for consumers to select a plan according to their own personal preferences, lifestyles and budgets.
HumanaOne plans are designed specifically for individuals and families not insured by an employer, such as self-employed entrepreneurs, small business employees, part-time workers, students and early retirees. Humana markets HumanaOne plans through insurance agents and brokers, as well as directly to consumers.
HumanaOne's new personal health insurance plan portfolio includes a spectrum of benefits with three in-network coinsurance levels and 17 annual deductible choices.
The portfolio is organized into three packages:
HumanaOne Portrait is for people who are security-minded and want benefits like those provided by big employers.
HumanaOne Autograph is for people who want flexibility to fit their financial plan. Three of five Autograph plans are HSA (health savings account)-qualified.
Monogram from HumanaOne is for the "young and invincible at heart" who want a low-cost plan with a safety net "just in case."
The plans can be further personalized with optional benefits such as dental insurance, life insurance and supplemental accident coverage.
"With the U.S. market for individual health insurance at 18 million and growing, we recognize that personal health insurance plans cannot be 'one size fits all,'" said Jerry Ganoni, president of HumanaOne, HumanaDental and Humana Small Business. "That's why we created three separate families of plans, each tailored for a particular kind of health insurance consumer, but at the same time highly customizable. This represents the most significant product expansion for HumanaOne since its inception in 2002."
Within the new portfolio of HumanaOne plans, deductibles range from $1,000 to $7,500 for single coverage and from $2,000 to $15,000 for family coverage. Premiums start as low as $30 per month for single coverage on Monogram and extend upward according to the plan, its features and level of benefits.
"This new portfolio of products positions HumanaOne to serve a much larger portion of the individual health insurance market, which we believe will continue to grow at a rate of 5 to 8 percent annually over the next five years," said Steven DeRaleau, chief operating officer of HumanaOne. "As more people leave group health plans, retire early, become self-employed or work part-time, they will increasingly look to individual health insurance, and HumanaOne will be there to serve them with a plan ideally suited to their distinct needs."
"We hope this results in additional growth that could eventually lead to additional employment (in Waukesha), but it's probably too early to say at this time," Humana spokesman Mark Mathis told SBT this morning.

Eight executives from the Wisconsin businesses have been appointed to a special panel to determine why several of the state's information technology systems have failed and to identify solutions to the problems.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) and Representative Phil Montgomery (R-Green Bay) announced the private-sector members of the Speaker's Task Force on Information Technology Failures. Along with eight legislative members, the task force will explore several failed information technology projects undertaken by the state of Wisconsin, and look to successes in both the private and public sectors to find working solutions.
"This bipartisan task force will work to make sure that the I.T. failures that have plagued our state are a thing of the past," Huebsch said. "Drawing from the expertise of both the public and private sector, I am confident that the task force will be able to move Wisconsin forward, and explain and correct the waste of more than $170 million in junked technology projects."
The public members of the task force will be: Tom Andreoli, chief information officer, Schreiber Foods, Green Bay; Tim Averbeck, senior IT manager, Business Objects, La Crosse; Steven Haroldson, former CIO, Cuna Mutual Group, Mount Horeb; Jim King, chief executive officer, Skyward Inc., Stevens Point; Steve Lipton, partner, Grant Funded Programs, Wipfli LLP, Madison; Tim Nuckles, owner, Nuckles Law Firm, Wausau; Kirk Strong, president, Smart Interactive Media (Cedarburg); and John Vanderheyden, vice president of technology support, M&I Bank, Milwaukee)
The legislative members of the task force will be: Rep. Montgomery (chair); Rep. Sue Jeskewitz (R-Menomonee Falls); Rep. Don Pridemore (R-Hartford); Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon); Rep. Jeff Wood (R-Chippewa Falls); Rep. Louis Molepske (D-Stevens Point); Rep. Josh Zepnick (D-Milwaukee); and Rep. Mike Sheridan (D-Janesville).
"The taxpayers of Wisconsin deserve accountability for the state's IT failures," Montgomery said. "Our task force will look at ways the failures could have been prevented and work towards greater accountability so the people of Wisconsin can feel confident about the state's future IT endeavors."
Last month, the Legislative Audit Bureau released an audit of the Information Technology Systems Projects in the state, finding at least six IT projects that have experienced cost overruns and delays, including one that was terminated this year after more than five years and $23 million invested. The total bill for failed and troubled projects is estimated at more than $170 million.

The Fond du Lac metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has been named a top spot for companies needing scientists and engineers to locate.
The March/April edition of Expansion Management magazine features the publication's annual Knowledge Worker Quotient study. In the study, the Fond du Lac MSA, which encompasses all of Fond du Lac County, ranked third on the list behind the Kennewick-Richland-Pasco MSA in Washington and the Pascagoula MSA in Mississippi.
The study ranked 362 MSAs in terms of their abilities to provide the depth of talent and innovative environment upon which knowledge-driven technologies thrive. For the category of scientists and engineers, the study also compared the percentage of workforce engaged in these areas.
"These individuals, with their hard skills, are the backbone of the technology sector of the economy," the study said.
"Cities and nations live or die because of their relative advantage over other communities. In the past, it almost always revolved around a natural geographic feature, such as a deep water port or being situated at the confluence of two major rivers. Later, cities rose or fell depending upon whether or not a man-made transportation infrastructure, like the railroad or the interstate highway, passed through them. We are now in an era where these transportation-driven factors are beginning to give way to a less tangible, but equally real, community asset: highly-educated workers. Communities that have them will see their economies thrive and prosper, while those that don't will find themselves falling farther behind," the study stated.

Wednesday is the deadline to pay for Green Bay Packers season tickets, leaving the thousands of folks on the waiting list hoping they will move up the list. But don't hold your breath. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers around the state at www.biztimes.com.

Businesses should rethink their mailing and packaging strategies to react to the increased postal rates that went into effect this week, according to Kyle Mengwassser, author of today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index gained 1.74 points to close at 192.82 Monday, and local stocks rose with the broader market in early morning trading today. The largest local advancers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $2.11 to $68.68) and Joy Global Inc. (up 67 cents to $52.52). The largest local decliners this morning were Harley-Davidson Inc. (down 58 cents to $64.23) and Snap-on Inc. (down 40 cents to $54.14). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.