Elevance Health, the parent of more than a dozen state Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, is purchasing Indiana University Health’s insurance business in a deal that would increase its dominance in several key cities in the state.
IU Health’s decision to sell is the latest and most prominent example of hospital systems giving up on the idea that they can be both a provider and payer of care. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, and IU Health declined to answer questions from STAT.
Earlier this year, Baystate Health in Massachusetts sold its health insurance company, Health New England, to Point32Health, the insurer formerly known as Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. ProMedica in Ohio sold its health plan to Medical Mutual. And last year, Ascension divested its stake in a Wisconsin health plan to its hospital system partner, Froedtert Health. Several other hospital-owned insurance companies have flamed out over the past several years.
