Florida Blue, Tampa General Hospital and HCA Healthcare West Florida Collaborate to Provide Local Businesses Affordable Health Insurance Options

TAMPA, Fla. – October 5, 2020 – Truli for Health (Truli), an affiliate of Florida Blue and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a new health maintenance organization (HMO) expanding in select Florida markets to give small and medium-size employers a new option for funding health care coverage. Through a collaboration with two leading health care organizations in Tampa Bay, area employers can begin enrolling in the plan October 1.

As Floridians begin to recover from COVID-19, one of the most significantly impacted segments is the small business market, where business owners often cannot afford to offer health care coverage to their staff. Under development for the last two years, Truli provides a unique solution to this challenge by supplying easy-to-understand plans, affordable costs for the employers, plus convenient physical and virtual access to top local providers for consumers.

For the Tampa Bay launch, Truli is working closely with two well respected health systems, Tampa General Hospital and HCA Healthcare West Florida. These progressive and nationally recognized health systems will work with Truli and other local providers that support this collaborative financing and delivery model. This includes the primary, specialty and urgent care facilities across the Tampa Bay area which are affiliated with Florida Blue – including Sanitas Medical Centers, Diagnostic Clinic Medical Group, and GuideWell Emergency Doctors. This new, fully insured HMO is a first-of-its-kind value-based model for the employer group segment to meet the needs of price sensitive buyers by offering sustainably affordable premiums and a healthier, more productive workplace.

“Florida Blue has long-standing relationships with both Tampa General and HCA Healthcare West Florida, and we are extremely pleased to be working with them and our other provider partners in this new product that was built from the ground up to leverage value-based care,” said Andy Marino, president of Truli for Health. “We appreciate both organization’s commitment to our vision for serving local employers in an innovative new way. We look forward to our continued collaboration as we strive to create a holistic health care experience that meets the health care needs of more Floridians.”

“Tampa General Hospital is excited and proud to be collaborating with Florida Blue on the new Truli for Health HMO, “said John Couris, president and CEO, Tampa General Hospital. “Truli’s unique model leverages provider and payor collaboration to deliver world class care at an affordable price for employers and consumers of healthcare.”

“HCA Healthcare is also excited to participate in this innovative approach to providing small and medium businesses with an affordable option to keep their employees and their families healthy,” said Ravi Chari, M.D., President, HCA Healthcare West Florida. “The Tampa Bay area has benefitted greatly from health care collaborations during this pandemic, and we look forward to expanding these efforts to create community health care access solutions.”

When faced with rare and complex conditions, Truli members will have multiple options to access care through their local health system or via participating providers in other Truli markets – all done in coordination with their local physician.