The three-year agreement, effective January 1, 2015, aims to reduce
health care costs for members in parts of Contra Costa, Solano and
Alameda counties
Company Website:
http://www.healthnet.com
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- (Business Wire)
Health Net of California, Inc., a subsidiary of Health
Net, Inc., and John
Muir Health have formed an Accountable Care Organization (ACO)
serving Health Net members utilizing John Muir Health’s medical centers
and its physician network in Contra Costa, Solano and Alameda counties.
“Our goal is to help improve the ability of patients to find the right
care at the right time and in the most appropriate setting,” said Chris
Ellertson, regional health plan officer for Health Net. “Through the
arrangement, Health Net and John Muir Health will work collaboratively
to build new efficiencies aimed at reducing the cost of care while
maintaining access to quality care and decreasing the upward pressure on
insurance premiums.”
According to Lee Huskins, president and chief administrative officer of
John Muir Health’s physician network, the ACO will focus on promoting
patient engagement and improving the patient experience through a
combination of care management and wellness and prevention programs,
utilizing approaches like:
-
Promoting quality, cost-effective medical outcomes through a
patient-centered medical home that utilizes an interdisciplinary
provider team.
-
Enhancing care by coaching and providing specific tools to patients
with complex care needs and their family members and caregivers to
continue their healing during the transition from the hospital to home.
“This partnership is well-aligned with our efforts to lower costs,
enhance quality and service, and increase access to John Muir Health,”
said Huskins. “We’re committed to engaging patients as partners in their
care to help them maintain and improve their health. We look forward to
working collaboratively with our patients and Health Net on this effort.”
An ACO is a group of doctors, hospitals, other health care providers and
health plans that closely align and collaborate on providing
coordinated, quality care to patients and help avoid unnecessary
duplication of services and medical errors.
About John Muir Health
John Muir Health is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit health care
organization east of San Francisco serving patients in Contra Costa,
eastern Alameda and southern Solano Counties. It includes a network of
950 primary care and specialty physicians, more than 5,500 employees,
medical centers in Concord and Walnut Creek, including Contra Costa
County’s only trauma center, and a Behavioral Health Center. The health
system also offers a full-range of medical services, including primary
care, outpatient and imaging services, and is widely recognized as a
leader in many specialties – neurosciences, orthopedic, cancer,
cardiovascular, trauma, emergency, pediatrics and high-risk obstetrics
care. For more information, visit www.johnmuirhealth.com.
About Health Net
Health Net, Inc. (NYSE: HNT) is a publicly traded managed care
organization that delivers managed health care services through health
plans and government-sponsored managed care plans. Its mission is to
help people be healthy, secure and comfortable. Health Net provides and
administers health benefits to approximately 5.9 million individuals
across the country through group, individual, Medicare (including the
Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly referred to as “Part D”),
Medicaid, U.S. Department of Defense, including TRICARE, and Veterans
Affairs programs. Health Net also offers behavioral health, substance
abuse and employee assistance programs, managed health care products
related to prescription drugs, managed health care product coordination
for multi-region employers, and administrative services for medical
groups and self-funded benefits programs.
For more information on Health Net, Inc., please visit Health Net’s
website at www.healthnet.com.
Cautionary Statements
The company and its representatives may from time to time make written
and oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”) of 1995, including statements
in this and other press releases, in presentations, filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), reports to stockholders and
in meetings with investors and analysts. All statements in this press
release, other than statements of historical information provided
herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and as such are
intended to be covered by the safe harbor for “forward-looking
statements” provided by PSLRA. These statements are based on
management’s analysis, judgment, belief and expectation only as of the
date hereof, and are subject to changes in circumstances and a number of
risks and uncertainties. Without limiting the foregoing, statements
including the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,”
“may,” “should,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend,” “feels,” “will,”
“projects” and other similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied or projected by the forward-looking
information and statements due to, among other things, health care
reform and other increased government participation in and taxation or
regulation of health benefits and managed care operations, including but
not limited to the implementation of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act
of 2010 (collectively, the "ACA") and related fees, assessments and
taxes; the company’s ability to successfully participate in California’s
Coordinated Care Initiative, which is subject to a number of risks
inherent in untested health care initiatives and requires the company to
adequately predict the costs of providing benefits to individuals that
are generally among the most chronically ill within each of Medicare and
Medi-Cal and implement delivery systems for benefits with which the
company has limited operating experience; the company’s ability to
successfully participate in the federal and state health insurance
exchanges under the ACA, which in the past have experienced technical
challenges in implementation and which involve uncertainties related to
the mix and volume of business that could negatively impact the adequacy
of the company’s premium rates and may not be sufficiently offset by the
risk apportionment provisions of the ACA; increasing health care costs,
including but not limited to costs associated with the introduction of
new treatments or therapies; the company’s ability to reduce
administrative expenses while maintaining targeted levels of service and
operating performance, including through the company’s master services
agreement with Cognizant; whether the company receives required
regulatory approvals for Cognizant’s provision of services to the
company and any conditions imposed in order to obtain such regulatory
approvals; the company’s ability to recognize the intended cost savings
and other intended benefits of the Cognizant transaction; and the risk
that Cognizant may not perform contracted functions and services in a
timely, satisfactory and compliant manner; negative prior period claims
reserve developments; rate cuts and other risks and uncertainties
affecting the company’s Medicare or Medicaid businesses; trends in
medical care ratios; membership declines or negative changes in the
company’s health care product mix; unexpected utilization patterns or
unexpectedly severe or widespread illnesses; the timing of collections
on amounts receivable from state and federal governments and agencies,
including collections of amounts owed under the T-3 contract; litigation
costs; regulatory issues with federal and state agencies including, but
not limited to, the California Department of Managed Health Care and
Department of Health Care Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services, the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services and state departments of insurance; operational
issues; changes in economic or market conditions; failure to effectively
oversee the company’s third-party vendors; noncompliance by the company
or the company’s business associates with any privacy laws or any
security breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other
unauthorized use or disclosure of confidential information; impairment
of the company’s goodwill or other intangible assets; investment
portfolio impairment charges; volatility in the financial markets; and
general business and market conditions. Additional factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks
discussed in the “Risk Factors” section included within the company’s
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports
on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and the other risks discussed in the
company’s filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as may be required
by law, the company undertakes no obligation to address or publicly
update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances
that arise after the date of this release.
This release contains references and links to other websites that may
contain content that is not owned or controlled by Health Net. Please be
aware that references and links to other websites are provided for the
user’s convenience and that Health Net is not responsible for any such
content that is not owned or controlled by Health Net. Health Net does
not express an opinion on any such content and disclaims any liability
in connection therewith.
Contacts:
Health Net Investor Contact:
The Abernathy MacGregor Group
David
Olson, (818) 917-1469
dwo@abmac.com
or
Health
Net Media Contact:
Brad Kieffer, (818) 676-6833
brad.kieffer@healthnet.com
www.twitter.com/hn_bradkieffer
or
John
Muir Health Media Contact:
Ben Drew, (925) 947-5387
ben.drew@johnmuirhealth.com
Source: Health Net, Inc.
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