Dive Brief:
- Los Angeles-based Heal, a provider of primary care through house calls, telemedicine visits and remote patient monitoring, said it has partnered with Cigna Medicare Advantage plans in four states as it continues its national expansion.
- The organization is now an in-network provider for Cigna MA enrollees in Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, effective immediately, it said. Its markets also include Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Washington.
- Heal works with Humana, WellCare, Aetna and UnitedHealthcare insurance plans, according to its website.
Dive Insight:
The deal highlights the sector’s continued focus on in-home and primary care.
Humana doubled down on its push into home health by acquiring the remaining stake in Kindred last year. Just this week, Walgreens-backed VillageMD is reportedly exploring a merger with medical practice Summit Health, the parent company of CityMD, as the push into primary care heats up.
Heal says it helps seniors improve their health from the comfort of their homes. Founded seven years ago, the company said it has made more than 275,000 patient visits to date.
Chronic conditions, sick visits and preventive care are covered under the collaboration with Cigna.
"Cigna aims to improve all aspects of our customer's health and well-being, and providing in-network coverage for quality, affordable, and convenient health care is one way we do this," said J.B. Sobel, chief medical officer of Cigna Medicare.
Heal shifted to a value-based primary care model for seniors last year from on-demand, fee-for-service care, following the appointment of Scott Vertrees as CEO. Vertrees succeeded co-founder Nick Desai in the role.
Heal's in-home primary care model allows the company to observe and act on social determinants of health that affect its patients, including food insecurity, diet, environmental factors, medication management, depression, loneliness and other conditions, Vertrees said.
The company generated $8.6 million in Medicare savings and improved health outcomes for chronically ill patients in 2020 as part of a CMS demonstration project testing the effectiveness of delivering comprehensive primary care at home. The $10,000 in healthcare cost savings per patient was 20% less than Medicare's expected payments, according to Heal.
Heal has raised more than $200 million in funding from investors that include Humana, Breyer Capital, Fidelity Investments and several individuals.