Centivo Brings its Curated Health Plan to St. Louis Through New Collaboration with Mercy

Business Wire

As affordable health care continues to dwindle in the U.S., Centivo aims to bring high-quality care to millions who struggle to pay medical bills

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Centivo, a pioneer in making high-quality health care more affordable for employers and their employees, today announced it has teamed up with Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems. Centivo will offer a health insurance plan to employers and employees in St. Louis, Missouri, then broaden to other regions, creating access to Mercy’s highest-quality care for the community as a top provider.

In a fragmented health care landscape where providers and health plans frequently engage in contract disputes, the shared values and aligned incentives of Mercy and Centivo offer a refreshing change. The start of this long-term collaboration is an investment in the local community, aiming to provide affordable health care options for business owners and their employees while ensuring access to high-quality care and promoting a healthier workforce. Both Mercy and Centivo are committed to tackling the challenges of our nation’s health care system.

“Centivo is proud to work with Mercy to expand our network of strategic collaborations and address unmet insurance needs of those who call St. Louis home,” said Ashok Subramanian, CEO and co-founder of Centivo. “About half of small and medium-sized business owners have seen their health insurance costs rise by 10% or more this past year. This current trajectory is not sustainable and collaborations like this are essential for keeping costs down. We appreciate Mercy’s working with us to bring proven savings results for employers.”

Mercy and Centivo’s collaboration marks the 49th national partnership for Centivo, as well as the sixth network partnership in Missouri. Consistently ranked as one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations for almost two decades, Mercy has invested in care models and infrastructure to ensure high-quality, low-cost care across the regions it serves. Mercy’s leadership in value-based care has saved the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, commonly known as CMS, more than $250 million over the last five years. Together, Mercy and Centivo share the goal of improving health outcomes while decreasing the financial burden on patients.

St. Louis residents enrolled in Centivo can expect the same high-quality care from Mercy, now enhanced by greater integration and affordability. Mercy and Centivo are improving access and affordability by prioritizing primary care. The result is financial transparency and a health plan built to be used. With Centivo, Mercy patients will know the cost of their care upfront.

“As Mercy heads into our third century of providing compassionate, high-quality care to the communities we serve, we also remain committed to transparency and low-cost care,” said Steve Mackin, Mercy’s president and CEO. “We believe Centivo is a compelling choice among the many strong options available in Missouri. They also provide flexibility to employers who want the Mercy network of providers for their employees. By Centivo offering in-person and virtual primary care visits at no cost to our patients, Centivo members will be encouraged to create strong relationships with their primary care providers and prevent health issues from escalating. This ensures patients receive the right care at the right time and at the right price.”

By prioritizing primary care, Centivo expects to bring significant savings to St. Louis businesses while insuring their workforce and promoting a healthy workplace. In addition, there are plans to eventually expand this collaboration across Mercy’s footprint. Prioritizing primary care has a direct impact on employer savings, evidenced by a 45% increase in primary care visits and resulting in a 30% rise in preventive care visits and a 30% decrease in ER and urgent care visits for Centivo customers.

This new option for St. Louis businesses comes on the heels of Centivo receiving $75 million in additional funding, including participation from new strategic investors Cone Health Ventures and MemorialCare Innovation Fund, as well as existing financial investors B Capital, Cox Enterprises, F-Prime Capital, Ingleside Investors and Morgan Health (a division of JPMorgan Chase). To learn more about Centivo, visit centivo.com.

About Centivo:

Centivo’s mission is to bring affordable, high-quality healthcare to the millions of workers who struggle to pay their medical bills. Centivo’s innovative health plan is designed specifically to curb the inefficiency and waste that exist in today’s employer-sponsored health plans. In partnership with leading local health systems, Centivo’s primary care-centered health plan offers employers a replacement to traditional health insurance carriers, lowering the total cost of care by 30 percent or more while delivering tangible value to employers, employees, and its partner health systems. To learn more about Centivo, please visit: https://centivo.com/.

About Mercy:

Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 900 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 4,500 physicians and advanced practitioners and 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.