CoreSource To Administer New Maryland Health Cooperative, Projected To Provide Healthcare Access To Nearly 80K Individuals

Lake Forest, IL - (Marketwired) - CoreSource, a leading national provider of benefit administration and health management services for self-funded employee benefit plans, will perform administrative services for Evergreen Health Cooperative, of Towson, Md., a new non-profit health insurance company and recent recipient of a $65 million loan from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Through no- or low-interest loans from HHS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), encourages the establishment of co-ops, consumer-operated and oriented health plans, to expand access to healthcare. Evergreen's health plans are designed for low- to middle-income Maryland residents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid yet not enough to afford private insurance.

"As the health insurance landscape changes due to healthcare reform, CoreSource has been selected to perform administrative services for one of the new entities created by PPACA: Evergreen Health Cooperative, which is anticipated to grow rapidly into a major organization," said Chip Sernyak, Regional President, CoreSource Northeast. "CoreSource, which has vast experience in large group administration, will service Evergreen's health claims and administer benefits from our Baltimore office."

Currently, 320,000 Marylanders are without insurance. According to Evergreen's actuary, Milliman, the new cooperative's health plans are projected to capture 32,000 lives in its first year and then increase annually to 79,000 lives by 2018. Evergreen will compete with existing insurers. Evergreen's plans will be sold both on and off the Maryland health exchange, a new health plan marketplace created under PPACA. In addition to individuals, Evergreen will target Maryland employers with fewer than 50 employee lives.

"Maryland hasn't had a new insurance company for 30 years," said Alan Wiederhold, CoreSource Baltimore Senior Regional Sales Director. "Evergreen will operate as a new type of entity, a 501(c)(29), to be governed by its members. Its goal is to make healthcare more available and affordable to working families through stronger emphasis on primary care services, use of telemedicine technology, and reinvestment of savings and revenue back into the healthcare needs of plan members."

Evergreen Health Cooperative will begin enrolling members on Oct. 1, and CoreSource will initiate claims administration on the Jan. 1, 2014 effective date.

About CoreSource
CoreSource is one of the nation's leading Third Party Administrators, delivering integrated, customized employee benefit solutions to self-funded employers. The company maintains claims and customer service offices in Baltimore; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio (NGS CoreSource); Detroit (NGS CoreSource); Kansas City, Kan.; Lancaster, Penn., and Little Rock, Ark. CoreSource is a subsidiary of the Trustmark Companies, which is celebrating its 100th year. Visit www.coresource.com.

About Evergreen Health Cooperative
Evergreen Health Cooperative, Inc. is a non-profit consumer operated and oriented health insurance plan (CO-OP) in Maryland that provides individuals and businesses with lower cost plans for quality health care, a voice in how their plan is operated, and the chance to experience being part of a health plan that puts patients at the core. Evergreen is governed by a Board of Directors that will include members once the plan is operating in 2014. Evergreen is headquartered in Towson, Maryland. Visit http://evergreenmd.org.