Independent Health is joining MVP Health Care, another nonprofit insurer based in New York. Sharing assets is one reason for the member substitution agreement, but there is another opportunity for the organizations.
Pharmacy Benefit Dimensions is a subsidiary of Independent Health. Amid diminishing trust in bigger pharmacy benefit managers, the organizations’ leaders see a transparent PBM as an avenue that is “ripe for growth.”
“Some of the opacities that the larger pharmacy benefit management companies have used are going to be stripped away, and having a truly transparent model, where all of the efficiencies and savings are passed on to the customer, is where things are going to end up,” Independent Health CEO and President Michael Cropp, MD, told Becker’s in an interview alongside MVP Health Care CEO Chris Del Vecchio.
Dr. Cropp said the PBM, coupled with the organization’s specialty pharmacy distribution company, is “a model that’s built for the future” while working with MVP. He highlighted the organizations’ “complementary capabilities,” such as Mr. Del Vecchio’s background in this field.
Some other advantages: Relationships with local communities, and no shareholders seeking margins.
“You’ve got a sustainable model that I think will stand up to the scrutiny,” Dr. Cropp said.
Gaining leverage in health system negotiations is not a cornerstone of the agreement, Dr. Cropp said, since there is not much concentration in a particular region to address.
Mr. Del Vecchio specified that MVP will form a holding company for both its own health plan and Independent Health.
“Thinking about our strategy, it creates a lot of new and different opportunities for the talent that both organizations have, and we’re trying to redefine what a community health clinic can achieve,” he said.
Mr. Del Vecchio also emphasized how Independent Health and MVP are committed to aligning with providers and “putting the member at the center of their care and allowing them to navigate with confidence.”
