Bright Health Brings Its Innovative Health Plan Care Partner Model to Illinois in Partnership with AMITA Health and Palos Health

PR Newswire

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Bright Health announced it will begin offering Medicare Advantage plans in Illinois in 2020. Bright Health developed its plans in collaboration with AMITA Health, an award-winning health system delivering care to nearly 6.6 million residents in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, and Palos Health, delivering top-quality, compassionate inpatient and outpatient care to the residents of Chicago's southwest suburbs. The company has received regulatory approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Illinois Department of Insurance to offer health plans during this fall's Medicare Annual Election Period, which begins October 15^th.

Bright Health's model features proprietary Care Partner Networks developed specifically for Chicago area residents based on several criteria, including comprehensive care across specialties, geographic reach, quality of care and operational efficiency. Working in close collaboration with doctors in this Care Partner Network, Bright Health is able to engage proactively with members, including those with high-risk or chronic conditions, to improve health outcomes and reduce costs through coordinated in-network care. For members, this translates into a more personalized and affordable patient experience, including:

Lower out-of-pocket costs¹
Fewer readmissions² and emergency room visits³
A reduction in duplicate testing⁴
Referral-free specialist visits

Bright Health's pricing in the greater Chicago area is competitive, including monthly premiums as low as $0.⁵

"At Bright Health, we believe the foundation of good healthcare is a strong relationship between people and their doctors," said Bob Sheehy, Bright Health's co-founder and chief executive officer. "AMITA Health and Palos Health have distinguished themselves as trusted providers that deliver superior, personalized care to their patients, and we look forward to working hand-in-hand with their physicians to provide a better healthcare experience for the people of Chicago."

AMITA Health is one of the largest health systems in Illinois, and members will have access to over 600 primary care practitioners, 2,400 specialists network providers, 22 Immediate Care locations, and 16 hospitals.

"At AMITA Health, we're committed to supporting the health and wellness of our local communities," said Don Franke, Senior Vice President Population Health and CEO, AMITA Health Care Network. "We are looking forward to working closely with Bright Health to bring compassionate, high-quality care to even more Chicagoans."

Palos Health operates 425 licensed beds supported by more than 600 affiliated physicians practicing in 42 specialties and subspecialties.

In addition to the these comprehensive Care Partner Networks, many Bright Health Medicare Advantage plans also include:

$0 PCP copay
Over-the-counter debit card
Low or $0 Part D deductible
Transportation benefits
Comprehensive dental, vision and hearing benefits

Bright Health plans will be available to Illinois residents in qualifying counties via the website, BrightHealthplan.com, call center and broker partners and through Medicare.gov.

About Bright Health
Bright Health is a consumer-focused health insurance and technology company. Through its collaborative Health Plan Care Partner Model in local communities and unique intelligence capabilities, Bright Health Plan is reshaping how people and care providers achieve better health together by making healthcare simpler, more affordable and personal. Bright Health Plan currently offers a range of individual, family and Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, New York, Ohio and Tennessee via its website, call center, broker partners and through government websites as well as public health insurance exchanges. Bright Health plans will also be available in Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina for 2020. Learn more at www.brighthealthplan.com.

About AMITA Health
AMITA Health (www.AMITAhealth.org) is a joint operating company formed by AdventHealth in Altamonte Springs, Fla., and St. Louis-based Ascension. AMITA Health is the largest health system in Illinois, comprising 19 hospitals and more than 230 sites of care. The health system has 900 providers in its medical groups, more than 26,000 associates and 7,000 physician partners and serves over 6.6 million residents in the greater Chicagoland area.

About Palos Health
Palos Health is a fully integrated, community-based health care system consisting of Palos Hospital, Palos Medical Group, Palos Health South Campus in Orland Park, Palos Imaging and Diagnostics, Palos Home Health and Hospice, and Chicago Health Colleagues, a clinically integrated physician network.

With 425 licensed beds and more than 600 affiliated physicians, Palos Hospital—located in Palos Heights , Ill, 22 miles from downtown Chicago—serves the southwest suburbs. Accredited by The Joint Commission, Palos Hospital's Intensive Care Unit and Telemetry Unit earned Beacon Awards for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The Emergency Department garnered the Emergency Nurses Association's 2019 Lantern Award. Palos Hospital is continually recognized as a premier health care provider by health care rating systems.

For two consecutive Cancer Program surveys, Palos Hospital has been awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award and gold standard rating for accreditation with commendation by the American College of Surgeon's Commission on Cancer. In cooperation with Loyola Medicine, Palos Health South Campus is home to a groundbreaking MRI-guided radiation therapy—the first in Illinois and only the fifth in the country—that targets tumors with millimeter precision. Additional services available at the recently modernized Palos Health South Campus include Immediate Care, comprehensive outpatient Behavioral Health services, an Imaging Center and a variety of physician offices.

With more than 3,000 employees and nearly 900 volunteers, Palos Health is a vital corporate citizen offering numerous community education programs and participating in community events throughout the year. Palos Medical Group is part of Palos Health and serves more than 50,000 patients annually in the clinic setting and through a community-based medicine program.

¹ In 2017, redirection and repatriation resulted in in-network care that would have amounted to $2.2M of out-of-network charges billed to members.
² Based on 30-day all cause readmission rates for 2018 for Bright Health Plan MA patients as compared to CMS county level benchmarks in CO and AZ.
³ Comparison of 2018 emergency department utilization rates for Bright Health Plan members across all business lines to national utilization rates to National Center for Health Statistic data published by the CDC for [2016].
⁴ Comparing 2015 CO EPO product reimaging rates to Bright Health Plan's 2017 CO IFP reimaging rates.
⁵ All pricing is subject to final regulatory approval.