Arizona Behavioral Health Company Grows

by | Mar 9, 2017 12:35 pm | Behavioral Health Care, Managed Care

Behavioral health care deals dried up in February, but the action is picking up again. On March 2nd, 2017, not-for-profit Community Partners Inc., a parent company of behavioral healthcare service providers in Arizona, acquired Tucson-based Assurance Health & Wellness, for an undisclosed amount. Assurance Health, a division of Sinfonia HealthCare Corporation, serves approximately 7,000 clients in a clinic that combines primary care with behavioral health treatment. Fletcher McCusker, CEO of Sinfonia, cited financial pressures as a reason for the combination. The combined company will operate as a not-for-profit entity, and will be one of the largest providers of mental health services... Read More »

What’s Next for Managed Care?

by | Feb 24, 2017 8:38 pm | Managed Care, Physician Medical Groups, Private Equity

The managed care mega-deals of 2015 have blown up. Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Humana (NYSE: HUM) amicably terminated their $37 billion merger, following a federal judge’s order in January to block the deal on antitrust grounds. The $1 billion termination fee was in the works. A different federal judge blocked Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) and Cigna’s (NYSE: CI) $54.2 billion merger on similar grounds. Things turned ugly quickly, as Cigna declared the deal dead and sued Anthem for the $1.85 billion termination fee, and another $13 billion in damages on behalf of its shareholders. Anthem says it will go ahead with the merger. What do the Big Five health insurers do now that they’re... Read More »

Managed Care Mega-Deals Not Too Big to Fail

by | Jul 19, 2016 7:46 pm | Managed Care

2015 is about to lose even more of its M&A luster, it seems. Some $91 billion is about to disappear from the record-setting spending on healthcare M&A, thanks to the potential unraveling of two managed care mega-mergers. Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice plans to file lawsuits seeking to halt the mergers of Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Humana (NYSE: HUM) for $37 billion, and Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) with Cigna (NYSE: CI), for $54.2 billion. For healthcare M&A wonks, 2015 set new records in deal volume, with more than 1,500 deals, and deal value, at $397 billion. The dollar total would have been even higher, at $564 billion, if Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) hadn’t walked... Read More »

WellCare Begins Its Planned Buying Spree

by | Feb 25, 2016 8:00 am | Managed Care

WellCare Health Plans CEO Ken Burdick plans to double the company’s revenue between 2017 and 2021, beginning with mergers and acquisitions. On February 22, WellCare (NYSE: WCG) made a start on those plans, announcing its acquisition of certain assets of Advicare Corporation, a managed care organization that provides Medicaid benefits in South Carolina. As of February 1, 2016, it served approximately 32,500 Medicaid members in the state. Financial terms were not disclosed. WellCare Health Plans provides managed care services for Medicare and Medicaid. As of December 31, 2015, it serves approximately 3.8 million members nationwide. The February 19 announcement by the Centers for... Read More »

Managed Care M&A in 2016

by | Jan 8, 2016 9:18 pm | Managed Care

The Managed Care sector woke up in 2015 with a spate of mega deals announced in July, following the positive SCOTUS decision in King v. Burwell in late June. While Anthem (NYSE: ANTM) and Aetna (NYSE: AET) got the most press for their multi-billion bids for Cigna (NYSE: CI) and Humana (NYSE: HUM), respectively, others were making serial acquisitions. Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH) led the sector with eight deals in 2015. All its targets were Medicaid business carve-outs from larger entities, stretching from Washington state to Illinois, Michigan and Florida. Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC), which also focuses on under-served and uninsured populations, made news with its $6.8 billion acquisition... Read More »