Gateway Health Plan rebrands, plans some expansion [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

April 09--Say goodbye to Gateway Health Plan, and say hello to Gateway Health.

The Pittsburgh-based insurer, which manages Medicare- and Medicaid-related policies for about 306,000 customers, announced the subtle marketing change on Monday, along with a new logo.

Gateway Health Plan remains the company's name in all legal documents, but in marketing and promotional materials the company will drop the word "Plan" because, according to a news release, "Gateway Health conveys a more consumer-friendly company."

The changes coincide with Gateway's 20th anniversary, the launch of some new insurance products, and Gateway's planned expansion into Ohio, which is being vetted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicare products will come first in Ohio and, later, Medicaid.

Gateway, which reports $1.6 billion in annual revenues, is also looking at selling products in other states.

"We had so many things that were changing, it just seemed like the right time to do it," Gateway Health CEO Michael Blackwood said in a Monday interview about the rebranding effort.

Gateway also could be in line to pick up significant new business if Republican Gov. Tom Corbett decides to accept federal funding to expand the state's Medicaid eligibility.

Medicare is the federally funded health insurance program for senior citizens; Medicaid is jointly funded by state and federal governments, offering coverage to low-income and disabled people, and also covering some long-term care costs.

The much-debated Medicaid expansion -- a key piece the federal health reform law known as Affordable Care Act, and a provision that was later judged by the U.S. Supreme Court to be optional rather than effectively mandatory -- would open Pennsylvania'sMedicaid rolls to people or families earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

Mr. Blackwood said that Gateway was "all over" the issue, lobbying the governor for expansion, as long that it is done in a sustainable and responsible way.

Mr. Blackwood said that if the Pennsylvania Medicaid expansion were to add 600,000 newly beneficiaries, as studies have suggested, Gateway would hope to pick up about 100,000 of those customers. That would mark Gateway's biggest growth spurt since 1999, when the state shifted its medical assistance customers away from state-run, fee-for-service programs into managed care products.

The new logo keeps Gateway's Pittsburgh-centric bridge theme, but with a sleeker, more modern red and blue bridge, rather than the old black and white one. The rebranding was carried out by Green Tree-based marketing firm BD&E.

On Monday, the company also announced that its previously reported move from the U.S. Steel tower to Four Gateway Center was completed earlier this month.

Bill Toland: [email protected] or 412-263-2625.

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