Dive Brief:
- In an effort to rein in healthcare costs, Boeing is contracting directly with southern California’s MemorialCare Health System for employee benefits.
- Boeing will offer a new ACO plan alongside existing options, such as Kaiser Permanente HMO, during the fall enrollment period, coverage will begin on Jan. 1, 2017.
- Tuesday’s announcement follows earlier direct contracting arrangements at Boeing sites in Seattle, St. Louis, and Charleston, SC.
Dive Insight:
Direct contracting allows employers to improve patient care and satisfaction while holding down costs by sidestepping large health insurance companies. The five-year contact, for which the financial terms were not disclosed, gives Boeing employees access to nine hospitals and about 2,400 clinicians. The network also includes 71 surgery centers, urgent care facilities, and clinics.
MemorialCare, which serves Los Angeles and Orange counties, expanded its network through partnerships with UC Irvine Health, Torrance Memorial Health System and PIH System.
Boeing has about 37,000 employees and dependents in southern California. To encourage enrollment in MemorialCare ACO, Boeing will offer employees incentives such as no copays for primary care visits, 100% coverage of generic drugs and increased contributions to their health savings accounts. Workers who opt for the plan will also be able to select in-network specialists without a referral.
“More employers are interested in moving in this direction,” Barry Arbuckle, chief executive of MemorialCare, told California Healthline. “It reflects the desire of these employers to participate in bending the cost curve for healthcare, and it allows the provider to have a more unfettered relationship with the employer and employees.”