Innovation Health Approved to Offer Health Insurance Plans in Virginia

Innovation Health Approved to Offer Health Insurance Plans in Virginia

Walt Cherniak, 410-401-9490

Innovation Health Insurance Company and Innovation Health Plan Inc. (“Innovation Health”), the result of a partnership between Aetna and Inova, have received approval from the Virginia Bureau of Insurance to begin offering health insurance and HMO plans to employer groups of two or more members.

Aetna and Inova announced their collaboration and the formation of Innovation Health in May 2012, joining forces in a new way to deliver and finance more affordable, quality health care for employers and residents in Northern Virginia.

“We’re excited to bring Innovation Health products to the Northern Virginia marketplace. Our goal when we formed Innovation Health was to demonstrate that an insurance company and a health care system, working together, can dramatically improve the quality and delivery of patient care while also reducing the costs associated with that care,” said Tom Grote, Aetna’s president for Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. “With these approvals, we’re ready to take the next step.”

Innovation Health will offer fully insured and self-insured group products beginning with effective dates of Oct. 1, 2013. Plans will be available to businesses whose employees primarily are located in Alexandria City, Arlington, Fairfax, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Fredericksburg City, Loudoun, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, Prince William, Spotsylvania and Stafford. Innovation Health plans also will be offered to individuals both on and off Virginia’s health care exchange. For more information, see .

“These plans offer superior health care advantages, including clinical integration and a unique payer/provider collaboration,” said Knox Singleton, CEO of Inova. “Coupled with a comprehensive network of community physicians, emphasis upon preventive care and, when required, treatment at the right facility at the right time, Northern Virginia consumers will enjoy lower costs and greater patient satisfaction.”

The partnership combines long-standing local, regional and national experience to deliver sustainable solutions for high-quality, affordable health care. Innovation Health leverages Aetna and Inova services and technology to promote wellness and improve patient outcomes.

Inova serves more than 2 million people each year from throughout and beyond the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Aetna provides health benefits to more than 600,000 members in Virginia.

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 44 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. For more information, see .

Inova is a not-for-profit health care system based in Northern Virginia that consists of hospitals and other health services, including emergency- and urgent-care centers, home care, nursing homes, mental health and blood donor services, and wellness classes. Governed by a voluntary board of community members, Inova’s mission is to improve the health of the diverse community it serves through excellence in patient care, education and research.