Incoming Jefferson Health CEO Joseph Cacchione, MD, told the Philadelphia Inquirer Aug. 1 that Medicare Advantage will be an important part of any provider-based insurance entity.
Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health took 100 percent ownership of the managed care company Health Partners Plans last year.
"We’ll never out-Blue Cross Blue Cross," Dr. Cacchione told the Inquirer. "There’s got to be some kind of competition, but we’re going to be more of a niche player, rather than trying to be everything to everybody. I just don’t think that’s a feasible way to run our insurance business.
Health Partners Plan was recently approved to offer its Medicaid managed care plans in all counties in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported July 14. It has more than 297,000 members, and 273,000 are Medicaid members in a five-county region around Philadelphia.
Dr. Cacchione begins his tenure at Jefferson Health Sept. 6.