Premier Health Plan Expands Relationship With Evolent Health
Premier Health Plan has signed an expanded partnership agreement with Evolent Health, the company that helped Premier Health launch the locally based, physician-led health plan in 2015.
Under the terms of the agreement, Evolent will acquire Premier Health Plan’s Medicare Advantage (MA) and commercial lines of business. The organizations anticipate that members enrolled in Premier Health Plan’s MA and commercial health insurance products will transition to Evolent management in early 2018. The change in plan ownership will not affect member benefit changes for the 2018 plan year. No changes will be made to the plan’s network of nearly 6,000 providers. The organizations aim to maintain core health plan operations in the Dayton, Ohio, area.
“Evolent has been a trusted partner whose experts have played an essential role in operating and growing Premier Health Plan from its inception,” said Premier Health President and CEO Mary Boosalis. “This change plays to the strengths of both organizations, and the timing was right, given the current growth opportunity. We’re pleased to continue to partner with Evolent as we focus on our mission to build healthier communities using the population health models and resources we have already put in place to support value-based care.”
The acquisition will have no impact on Open Enrollment currently under way for Medicare Advantage plans, nor will it affect the plan’s commercial products. Medicare beneficiaries can continue to enroll in Premier Health Plan through the end of Open Enrollment on December 7.
“We have added to our membership each year and expanded into additional counties, and we think Evolent is well-positioned to maintain that momentum,” said Renee George, president of Premier Health Plan.
Evolent, which provides an integrated, valued-based care platform to many health systems and physician organizations nationwide, recently announced similar partnership expansions in Illinois and New Mexico as part of its value-based care strategy. Ownership of Premier Health Plan will strengthen and expand Evolent’s footprint in Ohio.
As part of the agreement, Premier Health will enter a continued services agreement in which Evolent will support the health system’s population health management efforts for the Premier Health employee benefits plan, Next Generation ACO and payer partnership populations.
The acquisition is expected to close early in 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.
Back to the November 2017 issue of Premier Pulse
