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The healthcare needs of each individual are personal and varied; a plan that works well for one member of the family might not address the needs of others. Specific doctors, prescriptions and financial limitations drive these considerations, however the system for healthcare benefits is not always well equipped to address them.

In 1996, CaliforniaChoice® introduced a new and effective way to meet the changing needs of employees at small California companies; while offering an effective program that would enable business owners to continue subsidizing benefits in the face of rising healthcare premiums.

The concept, known as a Defined Contribution Exchange, offers a solution that gives employers the advantage of cost control while achieving a higher level of employee retention through satisfaction. Employees can choose the health plan attributes that specifically fit their needs.

  • Carrier selection
  • Premium/benefit level
  • Doctor network
  • Formulary
  • Voluntary vs. buy-up options

 
Our Core Offerings

 
CaliforniaChoice offers medical HMO, HSA and PPO plans; dental HMO, PPO and EPO; Rx; voluntary vision and multi-choice dental coverage; term life; chiropractic/acupuncture options. Our list of premier carriers include:

Health Plans
  • Blue Shield of California (HMO and PPO)
  • Health Net, Elect Open Access, Salud HMO y mas and Salud Mexico
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • Sharp Health Plan
  • Western Health Advantage
 
Ancillary Plans
  • Ameritas Group - Dental
  • EyeMed – Vision
  • Landmark Healthcare – Chiro/Acupuncture
  • Assurity Life Insurance – Term Life
  • SmileSaver – Dental

 
Advantages for our partners and customers

 
Employer advantages

  • Exceptional cost control
  • Guaranteed rates for 12 months
  • Full choice program offering 22 benefit levels, multiple carriers and formulary options, and an extensive provider network
  • Simple and efficient online administration
  • Single source billing
  • Full team support from enrollment through renewal
  • Highly effective recruitment and retention tool

Broker/consultant advantages

  • Best selling healthcare benefits program available to small groups in California
  • Level 7% commissions on medical and chiropractic; Level 12% commissions on dental and vision
  • Improved client retention
  • Complete sales, marketing and implementation support like none other in the business

Employee advantages

  • The freedom to choose the healthcare that suits their individual needs
  • Larger doctor network
  • Enhanced formulary options
  • The ability to access and update plan information, conduct doctor/hospital search and order forms 24/7 via our secure website

Carrier advantages

  • Increase brand awareness
  • Reduced administrative tasks and costs through automation and customer support
  • Additional marketing channel

 
John M. Word, III
 
 John M. Word, III, CLU, RHU, REBC
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of
CaliforniaChoice and Word & Brown
 

 

John M. Word III, CLU, RHU, REBC, is renowned for transforming the California insurance broker's role in the small group health benefits marketplace through his pioneering technological and marketing advances since 1972.

Word's belief that benefits administration and underwriting need to be simplified and streamlined for all consumers underscores his continued effort today to find the next solution, the next innovation and the next market niche for the companies' expertise.

Together with Edward J. "Rusty" Brown, Jr., Word founded the Word & Brown General Agency to market and distribute health plans through California's huge brokerage community; and by 1986, the company was recognized as the largest independent small group health distributor in the nation. Sensing that employers needed assistance and qualified service with Federal COBRA laws, the company launched the nation's first COBRA administration operation.

In 1996, Word & Brown launched CaliforniaChoice, a groundbreaking enterprise that enables employees in small groups to select from several health plans and benefit levels within one program. By empowering consumers with true choice for their healthcare, Word created a platform that encourages health plans to compete on quality and value.

A highly sought after speaker and collaborator, Word has written numerous articles, conducted classes and delivered keynote addresses to vast audiences. Word's professional credentials include Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Registered Health Underwriter (RHU) and Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC) designations. He has served as President of the California Association of Health Underwriters (CAHU), President of the Orange County Association of Health Underwriters, and Chairman of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) Leading Producers Roundtable program. Word is a graduate of William Jewel College in Liberty, Missouri.

 

 
 Edward J. "Rusty" Brown, Jr.
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of
CaliforniaChoice and Word & Brown
 

 

Edward J. "Rusty" Brown, Jr., CLU, is highly respected throughout the healthcare insurance industry for establishing and delivering standards of performance and service designed to exceed all customers' expectations, and for enhancing the California health insurance brokers' ability to serve their client's needs and best interests.

Brown began his career in the early 1970's as an agent for the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company in upstate New York, where he was the youngest producer to be honored with entry in the 119-year-old company's President's Honors Club.

In 1980, Brown transferred to the west coast to assume the role of Sales Manager for Hancock's Newport Beach, California office. Here, Rusty built strong and long lasting relationships by focusing on delivering a superior level of service, and his office quickly emerged as the company's top producing employee benefits agency in the nation.

In 1982, Brown launched his own local General Agency, Innovative Cost Concepts, and subsequently met retail producer John Word. Together, Word and Brown refined the technology for a revolutionary new group health quoting engine and developed a plan that quickly attracted thousands of brokers and their clients to the services they could offer. Major insurers, too, were eager to be represented on this new rate and benefit comparison platform and, by 1986, Word & Brown Insurance Administrators, Inc. had become the largest independent small group health distributor in the nation.

Brown is a leading force in the development and success of all of The Word & Brown Companies: Word & Brown General Agency; CHOICE Administrators®, the nation's leading Employee Choice Health program administrator; and CONEXIS, one of the fastest growing benefits administration companies in the country specializing in the complex areas of COBRA and HIPAA compliance, Flexible Benefits (Cafeteria) plan administration, as well as other services for businesses of all sizes - representing hundreds of thousands of employees throughout America.

 

 
 Ron Goldstein, CLU
President
CaliforniaChoice

 

Ron Goldstein is President of Orange, CA based CHOICE Administrators®, the administrative arm of the CaliforniaChoice Exchange. In this capacity, Goldstein has been a leading architect in the creation and acceptance of individual employee-choice Health Insurance Exchanges. He currently is responsible for a series of health programs including America’s longest-standing, state-approved Exchange, the CaliforniaChoice® program.

With a background spanning more than 28 years in the health insurance industry, Goldstein began his career in 1981 with John Hancock Insurance where he rapidly ascended to a leadership position focused on the medical disability field. His next position was with Dun & Bradstreet Plan Services, a national health insurance Administrator. He spent seven years there, ultimately attaining the position of Regional Vice President and was responsible for group and individual health products for the Western United States.

In 1990, Goldstein joined Word & Brown as Vice President of general agency operations, and earned the coveted NAHU Golden Eagle for Management award. In 1996, he was named Senior Vice President of Word & Brown's newly launched CaliforniaChoice Exchange. In this role, Goldstein conceptualized and designed the defined-contribution model for CaliforniaChoice, which allowed the company to emerge as the nations leading individual choice health Exchange for small and mid-size group’s healthcare benefits.

In 2003, Goldstein was appointed President of CHOICE Administrators, a Word & Brown company that was organized to administer the CaliforniaChoice Exchange and other related health programs including CaliforniaChoice, CaliforniaChoice 51+ , Kaiser Permanente Choice Solution, HSA California®, Contractor's Choice and Choice Builder, the nation’s first dental and ancillary Exchange.

To support the employee-choice mission of CaliforniaChoice, Goldstein has overseen the development of a number of innovative consumer decision support tools that includes cross- referenced provider and formulary guides, enrollment budget planning tools and an online enrollment engine that supports multiple benefit choices from multiple plans. Through 2008, CaliforniaChoice served over 10,000 employers representing more than 200,000 members and has administered over 19 million member months of Exchange coverage since its inception.

For further information, please visit www.choiceadmin.com.

 

 
 Brenda Scott
Senior Vice President
CaliforniaChoice

 

In her role as Senior Vice President for CHOICE Administrators, Brenda Scott coordinates a broad scope of activities on behalf of the rapidly-growing organization. This includes maintaining and improving overall systems at the company, coordinating the offerings of new health plans and products, establishing and implementing administrative policies and procedures, client communications literature and correspondence, and acting as a liaison to health plans for administrative, contractual and procedural inquiries and issues.

Scott began her insurance career in 1978 with TransAmerica Life Insurance Services and in 1988 joined John Word's retail brokerage firm as an account administrator. In 1993 she was named brokerage director with Word & Brown Insurance Administrators, the parent company of CHOICE Administrators. From 1994 to 1996 she was instrumental in developing the CaliforniaChoice network of carriers and helped design the product's highly successful client membership and billing system.

  ©2003-2009 CaliforniaChoice® —
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