San Francisco-based Dignity Health, part of Chicago-based CommonSpirit, reached an agreement to transfer its share of co-owned Arizona managed care health plan, Mercy Care, to CVS Health subsidiary Aetna.
CommonSpirit had a 49.75% ownership interest in Mercy Care as of June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2025, according to CommonSpirit’s fiscal year 2026 report.
Dignity Health co-owns the plan with Ascension, which said it had also reached an agreement with Aetna to transfer its portion of Mercy Care to the company.
The transaction is expected to close in fiscal year 2027, subject to required regulatory reviews and approvals, a spokesperson for Aetna said in an Oct. 2 statement shared with Becker’s.
Mercy Care serves vulnerable populations, families and individuals across Arizona through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Medicaid programs and Medicare Duals Special Needs Plans. Aetna has managed Mercy Care’s daily operations and administrative services for more than 20 years, a spokesperson for CommonSpirit said in an Oct. 1 statement shared with Becker’s.
“This transition of ownership to Aetna represents a natural evolution of that partnership,” the CommonSpirit statement said. “It aligns Mercy Care’s deep community roots and operational framework with Aetna’s scale, technology infrastructure and long-term capital resources. Dignity Health remains deeply committed to serving Arizona communities through their clinical care delivery networks, hospitals and outpatient centers.”
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