HealthPartners adds
Allina to its Medicare Advantage plans.
HealthPartners
said Tuesday it will add Allina Health System next year to the network of
doctors and hospitals in its Medicare Advantage health plans.
It's
another sign of how the state's Medicare market continues to be in flux
following the elimination of Medicare Cost health plans across much of
Minnesota at the start of the year.
"We're
expanding access to clinicians and hospitals to further meet our members'
needs," said Jim Eppel, the chief administrative officer at
HealthPartners, in a statement.
For
2019, more than 300,000 people with Cost plans in Minnesota had to switch
coverage due to a federal law that enacted a long-delayed change to save money
by eliminating Cost plans in counties where there's significant competition
from Advantage plans.
About
1 million Minnesotans get health insurance though the federal Medicare program
and the coverage typically comes through one of three channels — Cost plans,
Advantage plans and original Medicare. Elimination of the Cost plans in 66
counties this year meant those consumers faced a choice between the original Medicare
program, which provides access to almost all doctors, and Medicare Advantage
plans that in many cases have a limited network of health care providers.
With
the shift, Minneapolis-based Allina launched its own Medicare Advantage health
plans through a joint venture with the national health insurer Aetna, while
Bloomington-based HealthPartners sold Medicare Advantage coverage with a
relatively tight network of doctors and hospitals. For consumers seeking a wide
choice of doctors and hospitals, HealthPartners emphasized Medicare Supplement
policies, also called "Medigap," that work in conjunction with the
original Medicare program.
A
Star Tribune analysis in June showed that HealthPartners saw its overall
Medicare enrollment drop between December and March by about 13,000 people, or
21%. The decline featured a big drop in Cost plan enrollment at HealthPartners
that wasn't completely offset by growth in Advantage plans and Medigap
customers.
"We
see this evolution in Medicare as a multiyear process," the insurer said
in a June statement.
Cost
plans and Advantage plans are similar in being forms of Medicare coverage sold
by private health insurers, but they differ in how the government pays health
plans.
Christopher Snowbeck covers health insurers, including Minnetonka-based
UnitedHealth Group, and the business of running hospitals and clinics.
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