Last year, MSU Health Care, in partnership with Health Alliance Plan, worked with Henry Ford Health to launch the HAP MSUHC Medicare HMO plan with $0 premium and $0 primary care provider copay.
The plan is available to all Medicare-eligible citizens of Michigan and includes a $550 flex card for dental, vision and hearing, as well as other benefits. The effort is part of their 30-year collaboration, announced in 2021.
MSU Health has been able to quickly bring its Medicare Advantage plans to market and aims to expand into the commercial market as well.
"We have a few other insurance products that we will be launching both in the commercial world and then continue with Medicare Advantage in the employer-based world," said Seth Ciabotti, CEO of MSU Health, on an episode of the "Becker's Healthcare Podcast." "We want to get in the game and be what is the future of healthcare: a payvider. MSU Health Care fits that model very well."
Mr. Ciabotti also sees the employer-based insurance products as a big opportunity for the health system. MSU Health is a self-insured entity focused on providing extreme value for every healthcare dollar. The university currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars on healthcare and making sure patients receive the right level of care makes a big difference.
"We're launching our own insurance products to take control of all those parts of the university for healthcare, for healthcare costs, and then reduce the spend eventually while offering a high quality of care," said Mr. Ciabotti.
He is excited about the opportunity for more direct employer contracting and finding innovative ways to care for the community. But there are also challenges, especially in the pharmacy service line, where costs continue to rise.
"Other large employers in the area are looking at pharmacy costs and saying it's quite a high spend, and they're looking to reduce that, which affects us, or they're looking to handle pharmacy internally, whether it's with a digital or online pharmacy," said Mr. Ciabotti. "Those are all in competition with at least some of the ancillary services we have."