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January 31, 2006
Guardian Introduces Destiny Health's Consumer-Directed Healthcare Plan in Texas
Move Reflects Growing Employer Interest in Providing Affordable Healthcare by Engaging Employees to Make Decisions and Lifestyle Changes that Lower Medical Costs
NEW YORK, January 31, 2006 — The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) responds to growing market needs by expanding their partnership with Destiny Health to introduce the innovative and affordable consumer-directed Destiny Health Plan to employers in Texas.
Guardian's Destiny Health Plantm is designed to make people healthier by balancing comprehensive health insurance coverage with incentives that encourage active participation in healthcare. An alternative to traditional managed-care plans, Guardian's Destiny Health Plan puts consumers in charge of their healthcare dollars and provides the education and motivation to make smart decisions about their health and wellness.
"We are so pleased to be able to offer Texas employers a new solution to the problem of ever increasing healthcare costs," said Scott Spiker, Destiny Health CEO. "Our consumer-directed health plan helps control costs by encouraging healthy behaviors and wise decisions. We are firm believers that with more 'health' care, we'd need less 'sick' care, so we go beyond simply insuring our members' health needs. We give them tools to improve their health because wellness and healthy lifestyles are the building blocks of a health care system we can afford."
According to Richard A. White, Senior Vice President, Guardian, "Texas is an important market for Guardian's Destiny Health plan. Guardian has a long history of providing employee benefits and financial services in the state of Texas, and our work with Destiny Health to provide comprehensive, affordable, consumer-directed healthcare coverage to Texans is part of our commitment to enrich the lives of the people we touch."
The decision to expand Guardian's Destiny Health plan into Texas reflects the continued success of the partnership, as well as an increased interest in a consumer-directed healthcare concept that enables employers to:
 | Offset escalating health insurance premiums; |
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| Give employees greater control and personal choice in the healthcare they receive; |
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| Provide value to employees, whether they are sick or well in a given year; |
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| Provide employees with an integrated Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) or Health Savings Account (HSA); and |
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| Offer a wellness program that motivates employees to lead healthier lifestyles. |
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Added White, "The cost of healthcare is a looming crisis and as the baby-boomers age, demand and pricing pressures will be greater. In the face of these demographic trends, consumer directed healthcare is the wave of the future. When we empower and motivate employees to make better decisions about their health and wellness everyone is a winner — employers, employees and the greater society."
Spiker said his firm's sister company, Discovery Health, has been offering consumer-directed health plans for some 12 years to more than 1.8 million members worldwide. The Destiny Health Plan has been available in the U.S. since 2000, and is currently growing by thousands of new members each month.
"The reason for this accelerating growth is simple: We are motivating employees to change their behaviors, which in turn lowers costs and makes possible premium increases that are well below the industry average," Spiker said. He cited a survey by Chicago-based Analytical Directions showing that 47% of plan members report asking their pharmacist for lower-cost prescriptions; 41% say they are taking better care of themselves; and 37% cited improvements in their preventive healthcare regimen.
These findings are supported by national studies showing that when employees become members of a consumer-directed health plan, generic drug usage rises and emergency room visits drop, Spiker said.
"U.S. consumers are intelligent, especially when they are spending their own money," White said. "And it will be these consumers, armed with products and services like Guardian's Destiny Health Plan, who ultimately will rein in healthcare inflation."
About Guardian in alliance with Destiny Health
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and Destiny Health joined forces in 2003 to offer affordable, comprehensive consumer-directed healthcare coverage to employers concerned with ever-increasing healthcare costs. As the nation's fourth-largest mutual life insurer, Guardian is the employee benefits carrier of choice for more than 120,000 companies and 6 million individuals across the country. Destiny Health brings more than 10 years of international experience in the consumer-directed marketplace to the partnership. The Guardian and Destiny Health alliance creates a synergy that complements Destiny Health's record of innovation with Guardian's reputation and reach, resulting in the first significant, national consumer-directed healthcare option that offers cost control, high-quality care and real consumer choice. The Destiny Health Plan is marketed by Guardian in Illinois, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Texas. For more information on the alliance visit www.glic-destiny.com. Guardian and Destiny Health can be found on the web at www.guardianlife.com and www.destinyhealth.com, respectively.
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