HealthPlan Services to Administer Nationwide Employee Benefits(SM) Program Under Expanded Services Agreement

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthPlan Services (HPS), a leading provider of acquisition, administration and retention solutions and services to insurers in the individual, small business, association and union trust markets, announced today the expansion of its comprehensive administrative services agreement with Nationwide Life Insurance Company.

Since 2006, HPS has provided a range of administrative services to meet Nationwide's changing market needs, including management of in-force quoting, underwriting, billing, customer care/call center services and claims processing for individual, group and self-administered products. The new three-year agreement expands those services to encompass outsourced administration of Nationwide's employee benefits program, which includes short- and long-term disability, Ca$hback, dental, life and AD&D products. HPS will also facilitate integration of the Maximum Care Dental Network into the portfolio.

"A large multi-product and multi-channel enterprise, Nationwide offers an innovative and flexible portfolio of products to meet the needs of most employer-sponsored programs. We are honored that they have chosen to expand their relationship with HPS to further their service model and grow their employee benefit offerings," said Jeff Bak, President and CEO of HPS. "HPS will leverage our industry expertise, proprietary technology and proven business processes to drive growth and enhance customer satisfaction while also expanding Nationwide's product portfolio and furthering its service model to benefit agents and insureds."

Nationwide's selection of HPS followed an exhaustive due diligence process. Paramount in the decision were the company's proprietary self-service portals that enable such innovative value-added services as online enrollment, e-billing and online payment. Another key differentiator was HPS's proven enrollment, eligibility, premium billing and customer service capabilities.

"Our employee benefits program is a key growth initiative for Nationwide. To ensure its success, we recognized that we needed to partner with a firm that possessed a proven track record in administering and growing a comprehensive employee benefits portfolio," said Melissa D. Gutierrez, Vice President, Nationwide Life Insurance Company. "HPS was the natural choice. They bring the management and processing expertise, proprietary technologies, dedicated resources and operational efficiency and agility necessary to respond rapidly to changes within the market and to ensure a maximum return on our investment into this important niche."

About Nationwide Insurance

Nationwide Insurance, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by A.M. Best. The company provides a full range of personalized insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. Visit www.nationwide.com.

About HealthPlan Services

HealthPlan Services (HPS), a Water Street Healthcare Partners affiliate, is the largest independent provider of service and technology solutions to the insurance and managed care industry. Since 1970, HPS has offered customized administration and distribution services to insurers of individual, small group, voluntary and association plans, as well as providing valuable solutions to thousands of brokers and agents that sell into this market. HPS' proprietary, scalable technology provides innovative consumer-facing solutions that are turnkey self-service tools for our insurance carriers and distribution partners. HPS offers an ever-expanding array of services to a diverse and growing client base, and administers products that include medical (PPO, HMO, indemnity, consumer-driven), dental, vision, life, disability, cancer, critical illness, accident, long term care, limited medical, as well as various other ancillary insurance. HPS is committed to providing extraordinary service to its customers. For more information about HPS, visit www.healthplan.com.

About Water Street Healthcare Partners

Water Street Healthcare Partners is a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on health care. With more than $1 billion of capital under management, Water Street is one of the most active investors in the health care industry. The firm has a strong track record of building market-leadership companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has partnered with some of the world's leading health care companies on its investments, including: Gentiva Health Services, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic and Smith & Nephew. Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and private equity professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit www.wshp.com.

SOURCE HealthPlan Services