Medical Mutual of Ohio
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Company Overview
Medical Mutual is the oldest and largest health insurance company based in Ohio. The company serves its customers through high-quality, affordable group and personal health insurance plans, and third-party administrative services to self-insured group customers.
More information can be found on the company's award-winning Web site at MedMutual.com [1]
A Pioneer on the Cutting Edge
In 1934, America was in the depths of the Great Depression. But in Ohio, a group of fledgling Clevelanders authorized a loan of $7,500 to start the Cleveland Hospital Service Association (CHSA), a pre-payment hospitalization plan to help people pay for their healthcare needs. It was one of the first plans of its kind in the nation and the first ever multi-hospital payment plan.
Today, as Medical Mutual of Ohio, that same healthcare pioneer has been transformed into a multi-faceted company with health insurance at its core. Through the years, the company's mission has not changed – to finance and manage benefits that improve the health and well-being of its members.
Community Involvement
Medical Mutual's mission – to improve the health and well-being of its members – goes hand-in-hand with its commitment to promote wellness through its involvement with more than 200 charitable organizations.
Flexible Products
Medical Mutual provides cost-effective access to quality healthcare for its members by delivering leading edge health insurance products and related services in a manner that enables it to maintain a strong financial foundation, and also, support the communities it serves.
Group and individual customers have a complete line of comprehensive, flexible benefit designs in which to choose. Medical Mutual's SuperMed family of managed-care products include: Preferred Provider Organization, SuperMed Plus; Point of Service, SuperMed Select; and Health Maintenance Organizations, SuperMed HMO and HMO Health Ohio.
The Highest Quality
Medical Mutual's focus on quality has earned the highest accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance , (NCQA) an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of America’s healthcare.
NCQA has awarded Medical Mutual the highest levels of accreditation for the Company's PPO, POS and HMO products. In fact, Medical Mutual's SuperMed Plus product was the first PPO in the country to earn this status from NCQA.
To earn these accreditations, Medical Mutual has met rigorous requirements that focus on complaint and appeal processes, customer service, physician credentialing, utilization management and the infrastructure for quality improvement. These areas have been identified by employers, consumers and others as being of special interest.
A Brief Corporate History
In 1934, America was in the depths of the Great Depression. But in Ohio, a group of fledgling health insurance pioneers in Cleveland authorized a loan of $7,500 to start the Cleveland Hospital Service Association (CHSA), a prepayment hospitalization plan to help people pay for their healthcare needs. It was one of the first plans of its kind in the nation and the first ever multi-hospital payment plan.
Today, as Medical Mutual of Ohio, that same healthcare pioneer has been transformed into a multi-faceted company with health insurance at its core. Through the years, the company's mission has not changed – to finance and manage benefits that improve the health and well-being of its members.
It was 1926 when John R. Mannix, who at 24 was the youngest person to ever be appointed to the post of hospital administrator, began experimenting with the idea of hospital pre-payment. His revolutionary idea was to divide the cost of healthcare among all people whether they were hospitalized or not. Unknowingly, he applied the basic principle of insurance, and from it, sprang the beginning of a movement that would evolve into the system that we have today.
Eventually, Mannix led the crusade that led to the formation of the CHSA, which opened for business on June 15, 1934, in room 237 of the 1900 Euclid Building in Downtown Cleveland. Premiums at the time were 60 cents a month for ward service or 75 cents a month for semi-private room service. At that time, the maximum length of hospital stay under contract terms was 21 days. There were no age limits, nor were subscribers called on to take physical examinations to join the plan.
At the time, hospital service associations around the nation became known as Blue Cross Plans. But it wasn't until 1939 when the non-profit prepayment plans officially came together under the Blue Cross identity when it came under the control of the American Hospital Association.
Medical Mutual of Ohio was created from two companies. The first, CHSA, which was formed to provide hospitalization insurance, and Medical Mutual of Cleveland, which was formed in 1945 to provide insurance for the payment of physicians' bills.
In 1957, the CHSA merged with the Akron Hospital Service Association to form Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio. Then, in 1984, Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio merged with Medical Mutual of Cleveland to become Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Northern Ohio, combining coverage for hospitalization and physician fees under one roof. In 1986, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Northern Ohio merged with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Northwest Ohio to form Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio.
In April of 1997, the company re-claimed the name of one of its predecessors, becoming the present day Medical Mutual of Ohio.
The combination of an expensive healthcare market and a legal status that threatened its future forced the company to make a bold move in 1987, not only for survival, but also for the benefit of its policyholders.
The company proposed a change in state law that would enable it to contract with hospitals in a competitive manner. The result was a memorable legislative battle that concluded in victory for all consumers.
In 1993, Medical Mutual was among the fastest-growing healthcare companies with a managed care product known today as SuperMed. SuperMed proved beneficial to the Greater Cleveland Growth Association's Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), and later became a national model for insurance among small businesses, chambers and associations.
In 2001, Medical Mutual's SuperMed Plus was recognized as the first Preferred Provider Organization in the United States to earn Full Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of American's healthcare.
In order to keep Medical Mutual financially stable and growing, the company has expanded beyond health insurance. As a way to leverage the company's vast computer systems, Antares Management Solutions was introduced in 1997. Antares offers access to a broad range of technology resources and applications, which encompasses the installation and management of hardware and software for businesses in a variety of industries.
Medical Mutual Services, another company launched to ensure long-term company stability, provides comprehensive third-party administration of healthcare benefit plans to companies nationwide, featuring the most innovative information system applications and technologies.
Despite the fact that the Medical Mutual of today is much more than a health insurance company, it continues to focus on its founding principles that were introduced in that small office on Euclid Ave. in Downtown Cleveland – providing the best service, products quality and value.
The Evolution of Medical Mutual
1934 Cleveland Hospital Service Association formed to provide hospitalization insurance.
1939 Blue Cross Association is formed. Cleveland Hospital Service Association is a member.
1945 Medical Mutual of Cleveland formed to provide insurance for physicians’ bills.
1957 Cleveland Hospital Service Association merges with Akron Hospital Service to form Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio.
1961 Medical Mutual of Cleveland becomes affiliated with the Blue Shield system.
1984 Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio merged with Medical Mutual to form Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Northern Ohio.
1986 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Northern Ohio merged with Blue Cross of Northwest Ohio to form Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio.
1997 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio renamed Medical Mutual of Ohio.
The Historic Rose Building, Headquarters of Medical Mutual of Ohio
The Rose Building, corporate headquarters of Medical Mutual of Ohio, is one of Cleveland's first steel-frame buildings and one of the city's many distinctive historical landmarks.
Completed in 1900, standing 10 stories high and covering an acre of land, the 380,000-square-foot facility was the largest and tallest office building in Ohio, and the largest outside of New York City.
Many Clevelanders doubted the building's viability, referring to the building named after Benjamin Rose as "Rose's Folly," because they never thought business would grow as far east as the building's location at the corner of Prospect Avenue and Erie (East Ninth) Street.
Originally, the first five stories of the building were planned for a department store. This intention accounts for the unusually high ceilings on these floors. When a tenant for the floors couldn't be found, Rose operated his own store, Scott-Griggs Company, until his death in 1908. The remaining five floors housed commercial and medical tenants.
Other tenants have included Western Union, the BF Goodrich Chemical Division, and the Forum Cafeteria, which occupied the ground floor for 50 years. These tenants, and others, helped to fund the Benjamin Rose Institute, a well-known facility for elderly care.
An outstanding attraction of the early Rose Building was its lobby, designed around a circular stairwell 10 stories high. Four open-caged elevators serviced passengers. In 1928, the lobby was remodeled much as it looks today.
The institute sold the Rose Building in March of 1984 to Medical Mutual of Cleveland, which is a predecessor company of the present day Medical Mutual of Ohio and a tenant since 1948. Four months later, Medical Mutual of Cleveland merged with Blue Cross of Northern Ohio, which had also been a tenant since 1948.
At the same time Medical Mutual purchased the Rose Building, it also acquired the adjacent Sloan Building, now called the Rose Building Annex.
Built in the 1940s, the Sloan Building was originally an apartment building, and was later converted into office space. It was even once occupied by Chef Boiardi, for whom the line of canned Italian foods is named.
Originally designed by architect George H. Smith, the Rose Building has undergone several changes since 1900. In April 1985, construction began on a five-year total renovation of the building under the direction of The Voinovich Companies, to convert it from a multi-tenant facility to Medical Mutual's corporate headquarters.
The first phase was to restore the building's exterior to its original appearance. Subsequent phases included renovations and repairs to make the building more energy efficient and conducive to telecommunications and computer technology.
Today, the Rose Building has been completely restored to its original exterior. It stands as a source of pride for Medical Mutual employees and Clevelanders alike.
Historic Rose Building Rose Building Today
