NOVI, MI – Consolidation among health plans took a step forward in the competitive Michigan market last month with the announcement of the sale of a small health plan to a larger, provider-based health plan.
Priority Health, based in Grand Rapids, gains entry to the southeastern part of the state with its purchase of the Care Choices HDM, Care Choices PPO and Preferred Choices PPO health plans from Trinity Health of Novi.
The deal is expected to close early this year, and no immediate changes are expected to the 100,000 HMO members and 43,000 PPO members served by Care Choices plans. Both organizations are not-for-profit and sponsored by healthcare organizations.
Priority Health is jointly owned by three not-for-profit healthcare systems, with Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids serving as majority owner. Munson Health Care of Traverse City and Northern Michigan Regional Health System of Petoskey are minority owners of Priority Health, which serves 460,000 members in products that include HMOs, PPOs, HSAs and Medicare and Medicaid plans.
Trinity Health, a delivery system based in Novi, operates 44 hospitals (29 owned and 15 managed) in seven states. The system employs 45,000 full-time staff and operates 384 outpatient facilities, numerous long-term care facilities and home health and hospice programs.