InterValley Health Plan to Drop Commercial HMO Business
Citing continuing losses, InterValley Health Plan, one of the state's few remaining not-for-profit HMOs, has announced plans to drop its commercial managed care business over the next year, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. InterValley will focus on serving its 19,000 Medicare+Choice members. InterValley Chief Operating Officer Kurt Hubler said that the company has lost about $5 million on its commercial plans, which provide coverage for about 50,000 members. Although InterValley has made money on Medicare business, it has not earned enough to offset its commercial losses. Hubler attributed the mounting losses to a shift in how hospitals are paid. Instead of capitation, most hospitals now receive payment for each day a patient is hospitalized. Hubler said that the company expects to lay off approximately 60 of its 160 employees over the next 12 months. State regulators are still reviewing InterValley's request to drop its commercial business, and Hubler said he does not expect any opposition to the plan (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 10/19).
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