Meridian Health Plan Launches First Commercial Product

PR Newswire Association LLC

DETROIT, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Meridian Health Plan launched its first commercial product, Meridian Choice, when the Health Insurance Marketplace opened to consumers on October 1. Meridian Choice is available to residents of Kalamazoo County and parts of Van Buren and Calhoun counties.

With the Healthcare Marketplace a novel experience to everyone and the commercial product new to Meridian, the health maintenance organization looked to partner with a well-established healthcare institution to form an accountable care organization. Meridian has had a long-standing relationship with Bronson Healthcare and contacted the organization to develop a comprehensive Marketplace product.

All members who join the plan will get health services from Bronson providers while experiencing the customer-centered, high-quality services offered by Meridian Health Plan.

"Our mission is always to provide the highest quality of care in the populations we serve," said Jon Cotton, Michigan President of Meridian Health Plan. "With this being our first venture into the commercial arena, we wanted to start locally and focus our membership in one centralized area with a strong, well-established provider network. This ensures our members continue to receive the best care while we learn more about the Affordable Care Act and the commercial business."

As Meridian Choice works to provide the best product as possible to these areas of southwest Michigan, the company is examining ways to leverage a strong foundation in Medicaid managed care in Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire in order to produce expansion opportunities for Meridian Choice in the future.

Meridian Health Plan is a physician-owned, physician-operated health plan with extensive experience in its subsidiary operations in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire. Meridian's affiliates include Medicaid and Medicare health and prescription drug plans, a commercial plan available through the Health InsuranceMarketplace and MeridianRx, a Pharmacy Benefit Management company. Meridian Health Plan currently serves over 300,000 Medicaid members. For more information, visit www.mhplan.com.