Highmark says it's off to a strong start selling health insurance in Philadelphia area

Sep. 3—Highmark Inc. enrolled more than 30,000 people in its health plans during its first six months of competing in the Southeastern Pennsylvania market, the Pittsburgh company said last week.

"We've got commitments already through Jan. 1 that will increase that number significantly," Dan Tropeano, Highmark's segment president for Southeastern Pennsylvania, said in an interview Thursday.

Highmark's new customers are mostly employer group plans. Additionally, about 4,600 people bought its individual plans through Pennie, the state's Obamacare health insurance marketplace, said Tropeano. His territory covers Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

The entrance of Highmark means that IBX now has a significant new competitor, insurance brokers have said.

Highmark is a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield that tried to acquire Independence Blue Cross 17 years ago but that bid was blocked by regulators. After the Highmark-IBX deal died in 2009, Highmark and IBX maintained close business ties, but most of those arrangements have ended.

Highmark provides health insurance for 6.8 million people in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York.

Increased competition

The Philadelphia region has long had a reputation for having a highly competitive hospital market, but little competition in health insurance — though actual market share data are not accessible to the public.

"I started in this market 18 years ago with UnitedHealthcare, and I would say at that time, this was the most uncompetitive market in the country," said Tropeano, who advanced to become president of UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania and Delaware. "It was pretty much just IBC and a little bit of Aetna," with United new to the market, he said.

That has changed. Philadelphia now has all the national insurers competing for new business — and now Highmark is in the mix, Tropeano said.

IBX and Highmark have an advantage, because employers are used to the Blue Cross Blue Shield brand, Tropeano said. Blue Cross Blue Shield is a federation of 33 independent companies that have been providing insurance as far back as 1929.

Highmark's reception

Highmark was not entirely new to Southeastern Pennsylvania when it started selling health plans in August 2023 for coverage starting Jan. 1.

Its United Concordia dental plan was well-known in the market. Plus, it covered health care for people here who work for companies based in other markets. In all, the company already provided health and dental coverage for 104,000 people in the region, before adding more than 30,000 people this year, Tropeano said.

When Tropeano meets with potential customers, their most common question is not how Highmark is different, but how it is the same.

"People want to switch, but they don't want their doctors to be different. They don't want their benefits to be different. They want to make sure their service experience is the same, but better," he said.

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