PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., a Cypress-based unit of Minnesota’s UnitedHealth Group Inc., is getting into healthcare coverage across the border.
Late last month, PacifiCare said it is working with Sistemas M & #269;dicos Nacionales SA de CV, a Chula Vista-based, California-licensed health plan operator created to serve Hispanics who may prefer to get healthcare in Mexico.
PacifiCare is offering plans with low or no co-payments, as well as dental and prescription drug benefits. Enrollees get their care from a network of more than 200 primary care doctors and specialists in Baja California.
Sistemas members get all routine care in Mexico and are covered for urgent and emergency treatment in the U.S.
The plans are open to Mexican nationals who are legal U.S. residents, American citizens of Mexican ancestry and those with dual citizenship.
The company plans to market its Sistemas plans alongside those of PacifiCare and UnitedHealthcare.
“Data published by the Yankelovich Hispanic Monitor indicate that the majority of Latinos prefer to receive healthcare information in Spanish,” said Russell Bennett, UnitedHealthcare vice president of Latino Health Solutions. “By offering healthcare programs that are linguistically and culturally appropriate, we believe PacifiCare and (Sistemas) have a tremendous opportunity to leverage our mutual experience and expertise in better addressing Latinos’ unique healthcare needs.”
PacifiCare is not the first health plan in California that’s offering cross-border coverage. In 2000, Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. teamed up with Sistemas and two other partners to offer Salud con Health Net, a group of plans targeted toward Latinos and their families in California and Mexico.
Blue Shield of California has a different model of cross-border health coverage. Blue Shield contracts directly with medical groups that serve its Access Baja members and health maintenance organization plans through employer groups throughout the state. Access Baja’s service area is within 50 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Allergan Debuts Wrinkle Drug
Allergan Inc. took the wraps off Juv & #269;derm, a wrinkle-reducing drug that it picked up in its $3.2 billion buy of Inamed Corp. earlier this year.
The company plans to introduce the product through an “experience trial” involving cosmetic surgeons.
The Irvine-based drug maker plans a nationwide Juv & #269;derm launch in January and plans to take pre-orders for the product on Nov. 1.
Allergan is looking to what it calls Juv & #269;derm’s scientific benefits to establish the product alongside flagship Botox. The two products are being called a “total facial rejuvenation offering,” said Robert Grant, an Allergan corporate vice president and Inamed president.
Juv & #269;derm, which was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in June, comes in two forms, with one targeting deeper wrinkles.
Sutura Changes
Sutura Inc., a Fountain Valley-based medical device maker, named David Teckman as its chief executive and president.
Teckman succeeds Anthony Nobles, who remains Sutura’s chairman and takes over a new job, chief scientific officer.
Before coming to Sutura, Teckman was chief executive of Vivius Inc. from 2000 until last year. Vivius, out of St. Louis Park, Minn., was a venture-backed company that created a program that allows consumers to select healthcare benefits and providers online. Teckman also was a director of Whitebox Advisors LLC, a Minneapolis-based hedge fund that has invested more than $20 million in Sutura. He resigned that position and remains a consultant to Whitebox.
Sutura said that Richard Bjorkman, whose experience includes serving as chief financial officer for several technology companies, is Sutura’s new chief financial officer. Bjorkman replaces Egbert Ratering, who continues as a director and executive vice president.
Bjorkman and Rich Moran are new Sutura board members. Moran is a former chairman of Portal Software Inc., a Cupertino-based company that was sold in July to Oracle Corp.
Bits and Pieces:
Endocare Inc. of Irvine said William Nydam, its president and chief operating officer, resigned to pursue other opportunities. Craig Davenport, the device maker’s chief executive and chairman, assumed the president’s title; the COO role’s been eliminated I-Flow Corp. of Lake Forest said its On-Q system’s anti-microbial capabilities are being examined in a study on colorectal surgery patients. Speaking of I-Flow, Donald Earhart, its chief executive, is set to be a panelist at “Winning Innovation Strategies for Medical Device Companies” at the Wednesday breakfast meeting of the Life Science Industry Council. Other panelists include Tom Glenn of Beckman Coulter Inc. of Fullerton and John Kutz of Deloitte Consulting LLC. The morning event is at the Mezzanine Restaurant in Irvine Paragon Biomedical Inc. of Irvine said it opened an office in Poland for its growth and expansion plans in Central and Eastern Europe. Separately, Paragon moved its British office from High Wycombe to Marlow Primedex Health System Inc., a Los Angeles diagnostic imaging provider, said it bought four imaging centers, including one in Irvine, as part of a $5.4 million cash and debt assumption deal FlexScan Inc. of Mission Viejo said it is offering disease screening, health risk assessment, online diet and fitness programs and electronic personal health records to 300 employees of Crevier BMW in Santa Ana.
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