Insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has chosen downtown Hartford as its new Connecticut headquarters.
The Massachusetts health insurer, which plans to start selling insurance in Connecticut sometime next year, has leased 8,382 square feet in downtown Hartford’s City Place II office tower on Asylum Street.
The second floor space—formerly occupied by Wells Fargo Advisors—has 40 workstations, multiple conference rooms, a kitchen area, and several executive offices.
Mickey Herbert, the former Connecticare CEO who Harvard Pilgrim hired as a consultant to lead their Connecticut expansion, said the company expects to have 25 employees working out of the office by the end of 2014. Already, Harvard Pilgrim has hired around a half dozen people in Connecticut, who are mainly working on provider contracting.
Harvard Pilgrim is currently waiting for its license to be approved by the Connecticut Insurance Department so it can begin to sell coverage in Connecticut. Herbert said they expect approval by the end of this year, and hope to begin selling coverage in the first half of 2014.
“The Department of Insurance wants more competition in the marketplace,” Herbert said. “They are very encouraging of our coming into Connecticut.”
In choosing Hartford as its Connecticut home, Harvard Pilgrim puts itself in the center of what many people still consider to be the Insurance Capital of the World.
The not-for-profit health insurer originally planned to begin selling health plans through the state’s new insurance exchange—called Access Health CT— when it becomes operational Jan. 1, but the company delayed its Connecticut entry for six months.
Herbert previously told HBJ Harvard Pilgrim was dealing with several major initiatives including prepping for federal health care reform changes and a major health IT conversion, which was slowing its entrance into Connecticut.
Although plans were delayed, Herbert said Harvard Pilgrim is beginning to ramp up its Connecticut expansion efforts. Initially the company will only largely compete in the small and midsize employer markets, but Harvard Pilgrim also hopes to eventually offer health plans in the individual market as well, Herbert said.
In the business plan it filed with state regulators last September, Harvard Pilgrim said it will have a senior leadership team based in Connecticut, as well as positions for network services, provider contracting, sales and account support, product development and marketing functions.
Meanwhile, Herbert said he is working on determining his future role with Harvard Pilgrim. The insurer hired Herbert in January to help lead its Connecticut expansion. But it was only a temporary consulting position.
Herbert, who retired as Farmington insurer Connecticare’s CEO three years ago, said he is interested in continuing to work for Harvard Pilgrim. In an interview, it’s clear that Herbert has an itch to once again lead a health plan.
“That will be worked this fall,” Herbert said.
