Bloomington-based HealthPartners is looking to expand its health insurance business in Wisconsin through a marketing partnership with large hospital systems in Appleton and Green Bay.
Starting in early 2018, HealthPartners will sell coverage to employer groups in 17 northeast Wisconsin counties in conjunction with the Bellin Health and ThedaCare networks of hospitals and clinics. With more than 10,000 employees between them, the health care providers said they have selected the new "Robin with HealthPartners" coverage for their employer-sponsored health plans.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
It is the third time in as many years that the Bloomington-based insurer and hospital operator has looked to expand beyond Minnesota through partnerships with large health systems in neighboring states.
Announced last week, the Wisconsin agreement fits with a broader trend of more hospitals dabbling in the insurance business, as health plans and the government move to new contracts that ask health systems to take a degree of financial risk for the cost of treating patients.
"I think what HealthPartners is doing [with these partnerships] … is saying, 'We've got all the administrative machinery to run a health plan, plus we have all this product development and marketing expertise that we'd like to sell or rent to provider systems across the region,' " said Allan Baumgarten, an independent health care analyst in St. Louis Park.
"Health care provider systems are interested in having greater control of the premium dollar," Baumgarten said, "but they're nervous about the risk and required investment that comes with owning their own health plan."
HealthPartners already sells coverage in Wisconsin, in addition to operating three hospitals in the western portion of the state. Bellin Health and ThedaCare already are partners in an "accountable care organization" project with the federal Medicare program, which gives hospitals financial incentives to efficiently care for patients.
