Lovelace Health System in New Mexico is getting out of the insurance business with a deal to sell its affiliated health plan to Health Care Service Corp., the fourth-largest insurance company in the country in terms of membership.
Regional News/West: Lovelace Health System to sell health plan to Health Care Service Corp.
The system's plan lost 84,000 members in August when the state Medicaid agency ended its managed-care contract with the company and went with Molina Healthcare instead.
“While this is a difficult decision and one we did not foresee making, we believe it is necessary to ensure the long-term financial health of our system,” said Ron Stern, president and CEO of Lovelace Health System, in a statement. Lovelace is a division of Ardent Health Services, a for-profit company based in Nashville.
Lovelace Health Plan's remaining 110,000 customers in individual plans, employer-run plans and Medicare Advantage would be transferred to HCSC-owned Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, which currently has more than 400,000 customers.
Pending regulatory approval, the deal is scheduled to take effect at the end of the year. Terms were not disclosed.
Health Care Service Corp., which has more than 13 million customers, operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
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