Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire says partnership with Priority Health provides stability
Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire Market Leader Sarah North said partnering with Michigan-based Priority Health will provide the stability they need to weather Wisconsin’s dynamic healthcare environment.
Priority Health, majority-owned by Corewell Health, Michigan’s largest health system, became the sole governing member of the cooperative at the start of the year. Priority Health, the second largest health plan in Michigan and the third largest provider-owned plan in the nation, has over 1.3 million members, along with a presence in Indiana and Ohio.
The cooperative has 61,000-plus members and provides plans throughout most of Wisconsin. They offer commercial, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and state employee health plan coverage.
Both insurers are members of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, which is where they learned they shared a similar mission and vision.
“Moving into this new year and this new era for the cooperative, I couldn’t be more pleased with who our partner is,” North said in a recent interview with Wisconsin Health News.
Sarah North, photo courtesy of Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire
The cooperative plans no changes to its workforce due to the transaction. A name change is not part of the transaction, although the cooperative is looking into whether its name should change as it doesn’t reflect their service area, North said.
Edited excerpts from the interview are below.
WHN: Why did you want to partner with Priority?
North: The cooperative’s board had some key guiding principles that led us to find the right partner. There had to be a member-centric focus, and not just in a mission statement. It had to be obvious and demonstrated by quality outcomes.
That was important, and Priority Health has that. The other piece was it had to be a nonprofit. The cooperative is a nonprofit, and has been in the state for around 50 years. That same nonprofit status was important.
The cooperative is not affiliated with a provider, so our members enjoy contracts and the provider network we have with large systems across the state. We have a very large provider network, and therefore a very large state presence. We really value those relationships with those providers. If we had aligned with a provider or health system who had a presence in Wisconsin, we knew we would alienate another section of our network. It was important for us to keep all of the providers in our network front of mind.
The final piece was the respect to our team and the employees that give service to the cooperative. Rooted in our culture is that member-centric focus. We see that in Priority Health as well. They’ve made great commitments to our team. We’v
e begun the integration process, and we’re seeing that continue to be demonstrated.
WHN: What does this mean for the cooperative and your members?
North: Right now, our members probably aren’t seeing a difference. No one is probably seeing a difference. We have the same name. Our benefits haven’t changed. Our plans haven’t changed. Our provider network hasn’t changed. A membership substitution on a cooperative board is a very interesting legal transaction.
Priority Health, being able to have that ability to move our business decisions going forward, is going to bring resources, expertise and stability to the cooperative. With this really dynamic healthcare environment in Wisconsin and frankly across the nation — but especially in Wisconsin and in this region — those things are really valuable.
WHN: Are you planning any expansions?
North: It’s very early, but part of the integration activities is to evaluate what things the cooperative brings that have solid foundation and what avenues the cooperative could explore that would be able to bring community-based nonprofit health plan options to people across the state. We will be working closely with Priority Health to understand the Wisconsin market and how we can strategize and work to serve more members.
WHN: How about changes in the service area?
North: We are in most of Wisconsin, except for that southeastern part of the state. That’s purposeful. You have some bigger urban centers in that southeastern part of the state, and that’s not an area that the cooperative has spent a lot of time providing service to. Should we move into that area, we would need the expertise of a health plan that has had experience in urban and metropolitan areas. So if we do that, that will be a thoughtful process.
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