A health insurance company announced their entry into the West Texas market, including Amarillo, with the goal of helping small businesses and their employees.
Texicare, the health affiliate of Texas Mutual, announced that the company’s health care plans are now available to small business owners in Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland and Odessa.
“We believe that health care should be used, and we found in our research that many small business owners were really frustrated with the health plans because their employees couldn’t use them,” said Meredith Duncan, CEO of Texicare. “So, we’ve designed plans that are meant to be used.”
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Texicare’s plans include the Essential Care and Savings Care. The Essential Care plan offers “four $0 visits annually to primary care physicians, urgent care facilities, specialists, mental health practitioners, retail clinics, and physical therapy,” according to a company release issued Tuesday.
“(The $0 visits) were designed specifically so people can take care of their health,” Duncan said. “We don’t want costs to be an issue for preventive and basic health care visits.”
This plan also provides unlimited and free virtual care, unlimited $0 common maintenance labs and $5 common prescriptions. Virtual care is offered in part due to healthcare deserts in rural areas, where some patients may have to drive an hour or more for a hospital.
“Our members can get in touch with a doctor in less than a minute,” Duncan said.
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The Savings Care plan lets employees make tax-free contributions and withdrawals into and out of a health savings account. Employees will also earn interest on pre-tax dollars. This triple tax advantage lowers overall costs, according to the release.
“We’re focused on small business, first and foremost,” Duncan said. “We want small business employees and their families to be able to use their health care benefits. If people can be healthy at work, they can be more productive at work and help small businesses.”
Interested businesses should speak to their health care agents or brokers about Texicare plans. The company is also looking to continue expanding in the future, with a goal of covering all of Texas.