News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
704.733.5797
West Virginia United Health System joins American Excess Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group
Joins group of hospitals uniting to reduce their insurance costs; AEIX is managed by subsidiary of Premier healthcare alliance
CHARLOTTE, NC (August 14, 2007) — West Virginia United Health System (WVUHS), a four-hospital system that is the second-largest private employer in West Virginia and includes West Virginia University Hospitals, the premier teaching hospital in West Virginia, has joined the American Excess Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group.
As one of 20 owners of the AEIX Risk Retention Group, WVUHS will benefit from enhanced control over its insurance coverage and premiums, ownership in the profits of AEIX, and the opportunity to receive future return of premiums paid in the form of dividends.
"After careful evaluation, we determined that AEIX represents the best way for our healthcare system to control our insurance costs,” said Tom Jones, WVUHS president and CEO. “By uniting with other not-for-profit hospitals through AEIX, we also have the opportunity to share in profits when claims history allows."
Since its inception in 1990, American Excess Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group (AEIX) has helped hospitals reduce the long-term cost of insurance, while ensuring the availability of insurance and reducing the volatility of insurance costs from year to year. Because AEIX is owned by the policyholders, any excess profits are returned to the policyholders as dividends. AEIX has returned nearly $90 million in dividends since inception or approximately 16 percent of cumulative premiums paid.
“As the leading healthcare providers in West Virginia, WVUHS is a great addition to the ranks of AEIX owners,” said Robert Dowdy, president of the Insurance Management Services subsidiary of Premier Inc., which provides management services for AEIX. “WVUHS joins a group of health systems in AEIX that are committed to working together to manage risk and deliver high quality healthcare.”
About West Virginia United Health System
With four hospitals, a physician network and ambulatory services, WVUHS is
the leading healthcare provider in West Virginia. WVUHS provides a full
range of healthcare services, from family medicine to complex transplant and
neurological surgery. With more than 7,000 employees, WVUHS is the second
largest private employer in the state. The hospitals of WVUHS are Ruby
Memorial Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Hospital (Behavioral Medicine), Children's
Hospital, the John Michael Moore Trauma Center in Morgantown, City Hospital
in Martinsburg, Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson and United Hospital
Center, located in Clarksburg.
About AEIX
AEIX provides excess professional and general liability insurance to
not-for-profit hospitals and health systems. To qualify for participation in
AEIX, an organization is required to maintain a minimum self-insured
retention of $2 million and an in-house professionally staffed claims and
risk management group. AEIX can provide up to $40 million in limits without
the use of facultative reinsurance. AEIX is organized as a Vermont licensed
reciprocal risk retention group, an insurance company authorized under
federal legislation for the purpose of providing liability lines of
insurance to its members.
About Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc. (PIMS)
Premier Insurance Management Services provides contracted program services
for the American Excess Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group (AEIX) as
part of its excess medical professional liability program, and is also
attorney-in-fact for Premier Insurance Exchange, RRG (PRx). PIMS also serves
as program manager offering enhanced insurance products and services to
Premier participants and others. Core services include providing claims and
risk management assessments and education offerings regarding medical
professional liability for hospitals and their physicians. PIMS is an
Illinois for-profit corporation, incorporated in 1987, and wholly owned by
Premier Inc.
About Premier, 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving 1,700 hospitals and more than 47,000 other healthcare sites, Premier
is the largest healthcare alliance in the United States dedicated to
improving patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the nation's largest healthcare purchasing networks and the most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, operates one of the largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups in healthcare.
Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C.,
Philadelphia, and Washington. For more information, visit
www.premierinc.com.