Dive Brief:
- Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the largest health systems in the U.S., is pulling together resources to build a health plan that can compete with established health insurers.
- The 93-hospital system has created a subsidiary, Prominence Health, which will serve as the front for an expanding group of Medicare Advantage and commercial plans, delivery networks and other insurance products.
- Among the key reasons for CHI's move is to offer comprehensive services to employers, including not only insurance, but also wellness education and health coaching, disease management, onsite healthcare and preventive screenings.
Dive Insight:
CHI is following in the footsteps of other large health systems that are offering rich packages to employers. Boeing, for example, has set up ACO contracts with the Providence and Swedish health systems and University of Washington Medicine. But by offering both the health plan and the care element, CHI may be better positioned than some of its competitors to snag employer contracts.
At this point, it's still not clear whether creating a provider-driven ACO with an external health plan as a partner is an effective strategy. The concept, while highly popular, is still fairly new, and there's not a ton of data available to suggest whether it will be viable long-term. CHI's approach, meanwhile, at least garners it some additional assets offering diversification, a knowledge base in the health insurance arena and a strong pitch to employers. Regardless, it will be interesting to see whether employers choose its approach over provider/independent health plan-based ACOs.