Oxford Health Plans[1][2] is an American health care company that sells various benefit plans, primarily in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.[3][4]
As of 2004, it is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, the largest healthcare company in the world,[5] claiming to be "among the first" to allow patients to see specialists without a referral and to offer alternative medicine treatments.[1][6]
Overview
The dark blue membership cards carried by members belonging to its family of Oxford Health Plans included various subtitles, such as Freedom Plan and Liberty Plan; the card's color changed to white. The Wall Street Journal described their HMO as "trend-setting" and noted that Oxford "even let patients visit specialists outside its own network."[7]
History
The company was founded in 1984[3] by Stephen Wiggins targeting "upscale" doctors and consumers. It claimed major growth in the 1990s increasing from 217,000 members to nearly two million.[1] However, by mid 1998, the company had replaced its founder/CEO,[2] and his successor, William Sullivan.[8][9][10]
At that time, the Wall Street Journal described the company's services as "Ill-Managed Care";[11]
External links
References
- Oxford Health's Founder May Resign The Los Angeles Times, February 24, 1998^
- Reed Abelson. Oxford Health Plan's Turnaround Strategy Emerging The New York Times, April 25, 1998^
- OXFORD HEALTH PLANS, INC. (Form 10-K, 2003)