business

Coventry buys regional health plan

The deal to take over a Missouri-based insurer is Coventry's second recent purchase of a plan owned by a Catholic health system.

By Emily Berry — Posted July 20, 2010

Print  |   Email  |   Respond  |   Reprints  |   Like Facebook  |   Share Twitter  |   Tweet Linkedin

Coventry Health Care announced in June it had agreed to buy Mercy Health Plans, a health insurer based in suburban St. Louis. The deal will add about 180,000 members in Missouri and Arkansas to Coventry's rolls.

As part of the deal, Coventry also reached a "long-term provider and customer relationship" with the health plan's parent, Sisters of Mercy Health System.

"After giving thoughtful consideration to our future strategies as a health care organization, Mercy's board and leadership have determined that our core mission is best served by focusing on providing health care services to our communities," Lynn Britton, Mercy Health System president and CEO, said in a June 30 statement. "Likewise, MHP's progress as a health insurance company will be strengthened by being aligned with an organization focused solely on serving the needs of health plan members."

The financial terms were not released, but the deal is the latest in a series of growth spurts for Coventry. The Mercy Health Plan purchase comes less than a year after Coventry's purchase of Preferred Health Systems, another small, Midwestern insurance plan owned by a Catholic health system. That deal gave Coventry about 120,000 members in Kansas.

Coventry also was recently awarded the contract to administer Medicaid benefits in Nebraska, beginning in August.

Coventry, based in Bethesda, Md., had about 4.8 million members across all lines of business at the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Mercy Health Plans held about 58% of the HMO market share and 19% of the overall health insurance market in the Springfield, Mo., metropolitan area in the AMA's most recent report on market competition. That report is based on the most recent information available, from January 2007, and data is gathered by HealthLeaders-InterStudy. In its other markets, Mercy is not a dominant plan.

According to the same report, Coventry held about a third of the HMO market share across Missouri.

Back to top


ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISE HERE


Featured
Read story

Confronting bias against obese patients

Medical educators are starting to raise awareness about how weight-related stigma can impair patient-physician communication and the treatment of obesity. Read story


Read story

Goodbye

American Medical News is ceasing publication after 55 years of serving physicians by keeping them informed of their rapidly changing profession. Read story


Read story

Policing medical practice employees after work

Doctors can try to regulate staff actions outside the office, but they must watch what they try to stamp out and how they do it. Read story


Read story

Diabetes prevention: Set on a course for lifestyle change

The YMCA's evidence-based program is helping prediabetic patients eat right, get active and lose weight. Read story


Read story

Medicaid's muddled preventive care picture

The health system reform law promises no-cost coverage of a lengthy list of screenings and other prevention services, but some beneficiaries still might miss out. Read story


Read story

How to get tax breaks for your medical practice

Federal, state and local governments offer doctors incentives because practices are recognized as economic engines. But physicians must know how and where to find them. Read story


Read story

Advance pay ACOs: A down payment on Medicare's future

Accountable care organizations that pay doctors up-front bring practice improvements, but it's unclear yet if program actuaries will see a return on investment. Read story


Read story

Physician liability: Your team, your legal risk

When health care team members drop the ball, it's often doctors who end up in court. How can physicians improve such care and avoid risks? Read story

  • Stay informed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn