Flume Health adds NextCare to its Flume Community™ Platform, Expanding In-Network Opportunities for Urgent Care Patients in Texas

• Health plans directly contracting with providers signals a sea change in the healthcare industry
• Flume members now considered "in-network" for NextCare visits, increasing patient access to urgent care while lowering out-of-pocket costs
• Program to expand to all 156 of NextCare's clinics in additional 10 states throughout 2022-23

MESA, Arizona and NEW YORK, March 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Flume Health, a Health-Plan-as-a-Service platform that eliminates the complexity of designing and managing healthcare plans, today announced that it has added NextCare, one of the nation's largest privately owned providers of urgent care and occupational medicine service, to its Flume Community™ platform starting with all 40 NextCare clinics in Texas. The program will expand to NextCare's locations in 10 additional states, including OK, MI, AZ, CO, KS, MO, NC, NM, VA and WY throughout 2022-23.

The industry is starting to embrace a new direction in healthcare as evidenced by health plans contracting directly with providers and health providers considering new, alternative arrangements to ensure people receive top care. Flume Health and NextCare's arrangement allows middle market companies in all kinds of industries (that offer health plans powered by Flume) to add convenient and affordable access to urgent medical care for their employees and families. By tailoring healthcare plans according to the needs of varied companies and workforces, Flume creates solutions that help people where they're at in their personal health journeys and uplevel the offerings that their employers can provide.

"Flume Health has always been in the business of trying to make it easier for people to access care at a more reasonable price. It's very much core to our mission, and it's what we've been doing from day one," said Cedric Kovacs-Johnson, CEO and founder, Flume Health. "By adding NextCare to our platform of providers, we continue to find ways to increase healthcare options for American workers, while aiming for transparent and fair pricing so that employers as well as NextCare's providers and patients know exactly what to expect."

Through Flume Health, employers can design plans that waive deductibles and coinsurance for all participants' Flume Community™ visits, so that patients pay everything owed at the time of service, taking providers out of the collections business and removing barriers for patients who may otherwise have put off care for financial reasons. Also as part of the Flume Community, providers benefit from a dramatically reduced billing cycle – within 96 hours of a clean claim – as well as fair payment rates that are on average above the 50th percentile of fully insured payments based on local market rates.

"Self-funded employers that Flume serves in Texas run the gamut of industry, including a law firm and a landscaping company. These businesses want to offer their employees improved benefits, to attract and retain workers, and because it's the right thing to do," said Thom Palmer, Vice President of Managed Care, NextCare. "This agreement is the first big step toward expanding into all of our 156 locations in 11 states as we continue to seek new ways to provide more access and affordability to people in urgent times of medical need."

About Flume Health
Flume Health is the first digital platform for health plan administration, replacing traditional TPAs and empowering challengers and established healthcare companies to design and launch powerful next-generation, personalized health plans. A Health-Plan-as-a-Service, Flume eliminates the complexity of designing, managing, and launching personalized healthcare plans. Companies can leverage Flume's Health-Plan-as-a-Service operating system to take on the difficulties of delivering personalized health plans, allowing plan providers to focus on member experience. For more information, visit www.flumehealth.com.

About NextCare
NextCare is one of the nation's largest providers of urgent care and occupational medical services, with an emphasis on customer service to ensure patients experience the highest level of care. NextCare operates 156 urgent care facilities in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming. For more information, please visit www.NextCare.com or call 888-381-4858. For the latest news, follow NextCare on Twitter (@NextCare) and Facebook.

NextCare is actively expanding in new and existing markets, and currently operates 156 clinics in 11 states throughout the U.S. For more information on acquisitions, contact Jeff Gerlach, Chief Growth Officer for NextCare, at [email protected].

SOURCE Flume Health