Advocate Health Care Partners with Meridian Health Plan of Illinois

CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning April 1, 2016, the approximately 96,000 members in Advocate Health Care's Accountable Care Entity (ACE) will transition to Meridian Health Plan of Illinois as part of an integrated care model. The collaboration was driven largely by recent changes to the Medicaid program in Illinois and has been designed to ensure current Medicaid members continue to receive high-quality, well-coordinated care delivered in an appropriate setting.

"We are looking forward to a partnership that will utilize Advocate's fully integrated system to ensure quality of care for the members," said David Livingston, Meridian Health Plan of Illinois President and Chief Operating Officer. "Our organizations share a commitment towards quality and the vision of coordinated care within the market."

The collaboration between Advocate Health Care and Meridian Health Plan builds upon the proven success and shared vision of both organizations.  Meridian is Illinois' top-rated Medicaid HMO, with a rating of four out of five in NCQA's Medicaid Health Insurance Plan Ratings for 2015–2016.  Advocate is consistently recognized as one the nation's top health systems and has the State's largest network of primary care physicians, specialists and sub-specialists. 

"The transition to Meridian Health Plan was clearly the right decision for our patients," said Lee B. Sacks, M.D., Advocate Health Care's Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President. "Their quality rating is top-notch and they provide coverage across the entire state of Illinois. We didn't want a single member of our current ACE program to not have the opportunity to participate in this plan."

About Meridian Health Plan
Meridian Health Plan of Illinois currently serves over 240,000 members in its Medicaid HMO. In addition to Illinois, Meridian Health Plan has subsidiary operations in Michigan and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Its affiliates include Medicaid and Medicare health plans and prescription drug plans, a commercial plan available through the Health Insurance Marketplace and MeridianRx, a Pharmacy Benefit Management company. Meridian Health Plan currently serves more than 750,000 members. For more information, visit www.mhplan.com.

About Advocate Health Care
Advocate Health Care is the largest health system in Illinois and one of the largest health care providers in the Midwest. Advocate operates more than 250 sites of care and 12 hospitals, including five of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals, the state's largest integrated children's network, five Level I trauma centers (the state's highest designation in trauma care), three Level II trauma centers, one of the area's largest home health and hospice companies and one of the region's largest medical groups. Advocate Health Care trains more primary care physicians and residents at its four teaching hospitals than any other health system in the state. As a not-for-profit, mission-based health system affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate contributed $783 million in charitable care and services to communities across Chicagoland and Central Illinois in 2014.

SOURCE Meridian Health Plan

Related Links

http://www.mhplan.com