Aetna Inks Deal With Gateway Health To Form Affordable ACO

Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) recently joined forces with Gateway Health to form a commercial and product based Accountable Care Organization (“ACO”).

The aforesaid commercial health care program, Aetna Whole Health–Gateway Health, will become effective from Jan 1, 2017. The ACO will largely focus on providing better patient care to both large and small group customers along with promoting wellness.

This apart, the companies would introduce another individual insurance plan called Aetna LEAP, which will be available on Healthcare.gov.

This collaborative initiative would not only promote healthy living among people residing in Danville and Martinsville of Virginia but will also facilitate the control chronic health issues like diabetes and depression. The newly formed ACO will also allow employers to select the best health care options their employees.

The ACO would have a strong network of doctors and hospitals as it integrates Gateway Health, Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, and Danville Regional Medical Center. Hence, the ACO would be well positioned to provide all kinds of high quality medical services at affordable rates.

Almost 6.2 million Aetna members receive treatment from doctors committed to a value-based care. Presently, these doctors and providers treat 40% of Aetna’s claims. The figure is estimated to reach 75% by 2020.

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Aetna remains committed to helping health care systems achieve sustainability in value-based care. To this end, the insurer has been encouraging the formation of ACOs between providers and payers. This February, Aetna formed an ACO with Meridian Health Care to better serve the people in Monmouth and Ocean counties. The value-based and patient-centric new health care plan is expected to be more coordinated and pursue a team-based approach. The ACO combines premium and latest medical technology along with the best-in-class care management programs but remains pocket friendly at the same time.

Aetna carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from health, maintenance industry are Select Medical Holding Corporation (NYSE:SEM) , Wellcare Health Plans Inc (NYSE:WCG) and Centene Corp. (NYSE:CNC) . While Select Medical and Wellcare Health sport Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Centene holds Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).