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Products January 28, 2011
Guardian Passes Group Medical Clients to UnitedHealthcare
January 28, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America is exiting the group medical insurance market.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Business Insurance reports the firm has reached an agreement with UnitedHealthcare to renew coverage for Guardian clients.
According to Business Insurance, in a memo to brokers prepared in a question-and-answer format, Guardian said “its modest medical market share and its use of rental networks significantly hampered its ability to compete in the group medical sector that has frequently favored large national medical carriers.” As a result, “Guardian has determined that continuing in the medical insurance business is no longer a strategic fit,” the memo said.
Guardian is working with UnitedHealthcare to provide comparable health care plans for clients. A spokesman told Business Insurance that Guardian covers 42,400 employees in group plans. The insurer intends to continue to offer other benefit coverage, including dental, life, disability, and vision.
Last September, Principal Financial Group announced its exit from the medical insurance business and that it selected UnitedHealthcare to renew medical coverage for its customers (see Principal to Exit Medical Insurance Business).