A Boston-based health care payer and provider is expanding both close to home, with new options in southeastern Massachusetts, and nationally.
The integrated system Commonwealth Care Alliance announced a provider agreement with Southcoast Health in late October, through which its members will have access to more than 700 providers at Southcoast’s primary care practices and three hospitals in Fall River, New Bedford and Wareham. CCA serves nearly 42,000 individuals and said that nearly 150,000 people in the state’s southeastern region are eligible for one of its plans.
Commonwealth Care Alliance offers two health plans in Massachusetts — CCA Senior Care Options, an HMO special needs plan for people 65 and older who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and qualify as high-need based on health status or income, and CCA One Care, a Massachusetts demonstration Medicare-Medicaid Plan for individuals between the ages of 21 and 64.
CCA said it plans to “complement its existing Massachusetts product offerings” with two new Medicare Advantage plans “designed for people with significant needs who narrowly miss Medicaid income or asset thresholds,” and will mark its first expansion beyond Massachusetts by offering Medicare Advantage plans in Rhode Island that will be “designed to meet the needs of individuals who often live with chronic conditions and face multiple social or medical needs.”
The Rhode Island move comes as CCA is also pursuing regulatory approvals for acquisitions in two more states. Commonwealth Care Alliance is acquiring California’s Vitality Health Plan and a majority stake in Michigan’s Reliance Healthcare in an expansion that President and CEO Chris Palmieri said “gives us strong footholds into new markets and strengthens our position in Massachusetts where we can advance our vision of transforming the nation’s healthcare for individuals with the most significant needs.”
