Our Medicaid Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan has acquired 2,000 new members from three recently closed MLTC plans in upstate New York. Most of the providers serving these MLTC plans will also become part of the VNS Health provider network. With these acquisitions, VNS Health now serves plan members in over 35 counties across New York State.
The three outgoing MLTC plans are Elderwood Health Plan in the Buffalo/Rochester area; Prime Health Choice in the Albany/Hudson Valley area; and Senior Network Health (SNH) in the Utica area. Elderwood and Prime members who did not elect to go elsewhere were automatically enrolled in VNS Health MLTC on May 1. Likewise, SNH members who didn’t choose otherwise were moved to VNS Health MLTC on June 1.
As part of the acquisition agreements, Elderwood’s newly formed Independent Practice Association will manage the care of all VNS Health MLTC members—including those who were already enrolled in VNS Health MLTC prior to the acquisitions — in the counties where Elderwood Health Plan operated. The Mohawk Valley Health System will do the same for all VNS Health MLTC members in the Utica-area counties formerly served by SNH.
“We’re excited to add these additional plan members and network providers, allowing us to reach even more vulnerable New Yorkers,” says John Burke, EVP and Chief of Health Plans for VNS Health. “Besides growing our upstate MLTC membership, these acquisitions will provide an important platform for the upstate expansion of our integrated Medicare-Medicaid plan for dual-eligibles with long-term care needs, VNS Health Total, as well as our two other Medicare Advantage plans, EasyCare and EasyCare Plus.”
