2001
HealthCap® becomes the industry solution to an insurance problem.
Protecting the People Who Provide the Care.
How it began
In 1998 St. Paul Insurance Company was the largest writer of medical malpractice and senior living liability
in the country. Times were good, so good that they bought their largest competitor. However, they failed to
see the ominous clouds on the horizon. Premium rates had been declining for ten years and during the same time
a few savvy plaintiff attorneys figured out how to enrage juries and extract multimillion dollar verdicts
against senior living facilities.
2001
By 2001, St. Paul had left the building; and premiums for senior living facilities didn’t just go up, they went through the roof.
Michael Feeney had a track record of building successful insurance operations for distressed industries. Paul Gillihan and Jack Voss, the two largest insurance agents covering Michigan senior living coaxed Michael out of retirement.
Reluctantly, Michael agreed, but on one condition. It was time to rethink everything.
August 11, 2001
On August 11, 2001 HealthCap® was born as a captive facility for Michigan-based senior living facilities and became the industry solution to an insurance problem.
Re•thinking Rethinking everything means ...
...focusing on preventing claims before they occur with a hands-on risk management focus that puts experienced industry professionals into members’ buildings every year.
...only working with insurance agents who are also industry experts.
...never being satisfied.
...proactively managing claims to drive down claim severity.
2003
Evolution
HealthCap® started in Michigan, but word spread fast and soon HealthCap® was in
Illinois and Ohio. Before long providers from all across the country wanted to join. So
HealthCap® Risk Retention Group was formed in November 2003. Within a year
HealthCap® was truly nationwide.
2004
HUD liability insurer
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made their 232 Program available to senior living
facilities and created standards for liability insurers of applicants. Demotech, a leading insurance rating
agency, was approved by HUD and by extension insurers with a Demotech A rating qualified to insure program
applicants. HealthCap® received an A rating.
HealthCap® continued to grow.
2008
ANCC accreditation
In 2008 Risk Management Services was accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
HealthCap® risk management programs qualified HealthCap® members and program
participants for continuing education credits.
2008
Stock market collapses
Later in 2008 the stock market collapses. HealthCap®, with its high-quality investment
portfolio, posts a profit—unlike most insurers.
2009
AHCA/NCAL endorsement
In 2009 HealthCap® is endorsed by the American Health Care Association and National Centers for Assisted Living (AHCA / NCAL) as the preferred liability insurance provider.
2015
HealthCap® is my company
HealthCap® filmed its first video where members and their agents describe why
HealthCap® is their company.
2017
25,000 visits
HealthCap® risk managers complete their 25,000th onsite visit. That’s right…over 25,000 on-site risk management visits since HealthCap® began. If you want to know why HealthCap® member claim frequency is half the industry average, just start there.
2018
Competitors fail… HealthCap® endures
In the past ten years over 100 insurance companies tried to write liability insurance for senior living
facilities. Premium rates declined because of that level of competition while the cost of lawsuits went
up. The result was that 100 insurance companies stopped writing liability insurance for senior living. One
bright spot has been the industry solution to an insurance problem, HealthCap®.
2019
Resource & Education Center
Our Resource & Education Center goes open source, allowing access to the knowledge and experience of our Risk Managers to all members of the Senior Living Industry in an effort to improve resident outcomes and reduce risk overall
2020
2020 was a watershed year unlike any other. COVID-19 was the first global deadly pandemic in a century and among its primary victims were and are the elderly and infirm.
Countries across the globe struggled mightily to contain it employing a variety of strategies none of which were particularly effective. The fifty states of America also reacted in a broad variety of ways, again, none of which helped stem the impact of COVID on the vulnerable.
In the face of changing directives each and every day from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute for Health (NIH), the Executive Branch of the Federal Government and their counterparts in fifty states, our members and the senior living industry as a whole were overwhelmed to say the least. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) had a role to play in organizing industry efforts and we at HealthCap had our role to play in helping an industry under siege put its best foot forward and provide the highest quality of care under the most extreme circumstances.
0+
Covid-related documents downloaded
HealthCap Risk Management Responds
Our risk management partners could not directly visit facilities, but we could check in, coach, and consult. Our in-house team processed the huge volume of daily national and state directives and pushed out communiques summarizing and synthesizing what needed to be done next.
Since the beginning of COVID in March 2020, HealthCap produced over 1,000 policies, procedures, infographics, webinars, seminars, podcasts and presentations often in both Spanish and English. We made everything available to the entire industry, members and non-members alike.
Needless to say, HealthCap met a need as we have for the past twenty years.
2021
by the numbers
2021 was a year of start, stop and restart for the world, the country, the senior living industry and for
HealthCap® as well. Over the course of 2021 we saw widespread vaccination amongst senior
living residents and staff which provided a sigh of relief. Despite rays of hope, the Delta and Omicron waves
showed the world that our focus, attention and endurance would be tested still more. In partnership with and
support of our expert senior living agents, HealthCap® delivers value to our members with the
focus on member engagement and risk mitigation. Downloads from the HealthCap® Risk Management
Resource Center in 2021 were the most in our 20 year history. Premiums were stable at $63 million while claim
frequency and severity trends normalized after the tumultuous 2020. Despite all the headwinds,
HealthCap® posted a profit against the ongoing backdrop of uncertainty with the pandemic. We
at HealthCap® are extremely proud of our members’ endurance and commitment to excellence in the
face of the most challenging operating environment in a century. In partnership with and support of our expert
senior living agents, HealthCap® delivers value to our members with the focus on member
engagement and risk mitigation. To learn more about what drives performance at HealthCap® visit
our risk management resource center.
Premium
$0
Claim Frequency
0%
Severity
$0
Surplus
$0
The Goal.
Reduce claims frequency and severity
To reduce claim frequency and severity we are going to ask our members to focus on four areas:
Take care of your residents.
The quality of care has never been better. Thanks goes to the leadership of AHCA / NCAL and we can take some credit for our small contribution.
Take care of your families.
Relationships matter, particularly when it comes to avoiding litigation.
Take care of your staff.
They take care of your residents.
Get signed and properly executed arbitration agreements.
Facilities and families win and lawyers lose.
