Press release:
Mission Health and Aetna have signed a new, multi-year agreement providing Aetna customers who receive healthcare benefits through their employers with in-network access to Mission Health’s hospitals, outpatient centers and employed physicians across western North Carolina. This agreement provides employers in western North Carolina with further access to competitively priced network providers.
“This is the latest in a series of exciting announcements, and this new agreement extends our long-standing, collaborative relationship with Aetna, and offers sustained network coverage to members who rely on our providers for the highest quality healthcare services,” said Paul McDowell, Deputy CFO for Mission Health. “We are committed to a more competitive insurance market in western North Carolina, which will greatly benefit large- and small-group employers and consumers alike, and we’re backing up our words with action. We are lucky to have trusted health plan partners like Aetna, and we look forward to working closely with them to improve quality and control costs in the coming years.”
The agreement is effective October 1, 2017, and includes all of Aetna commercial, employer-based healthcare plans.
This is exciting news for local employers that need reliable access to high quality health care in western North Carolina,” said Jim Bostian, Aetna’s market president for North Carolina. “We applaud Mission Health’s efforts to strengthen our collaborative relationship, and bring more affordable and innovative coverage options to the market. We are pleased to partner with an organization that is so strongly committed to providing the highest level of quality care to our members, as evidenced by Mission Health being named one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics for the fifth time in the past six years.”
About Mission Health
Mission Health, based in Asheville, North Carolina, is the state’s sixth-largest health system. For the fifth time in the past six years, Mission Health has been named one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Company and part of IBM Watson Health in 2017. We are the only health system in North Carolina to achieve this recognition. Mission Health operates six hospitals, numerous outpatient and surgery centers, post-acute care provider CarePartners, long-term acute care provider Asheville Specialty Hospital, and the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center. With approximately 12,000 team members and 2,000 volunteers, Mission Health is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the people of western North Carolina. For more information, please visit mission-health or @MissionHealthNC.
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 44.9 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers’ compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. Aetna projects to have at least 75 percent of its claim payments in value-based models by 2020. For more information, see aetna or follow @AetnaNews and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.