WellPoint inks Medicare Advantage partnership

WellPoint's CareMore unit is teaming up with Emory Healthcare, a large health system in Atlanta, to jointly manage about 7,500 Medicare Advantage patients. The deal involves CareMore collaborating with Emory to help overhaul the care provided to those consumers, who are covered by WellPoint's Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia as well as other insurers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Executives from CareMore, which operates clinics across the country, will help Emory implement a version of its clinical model, including boosting preventive care. Emory CEO John Fox said the deal helps the health system move away from fee-for-service payments toward quality-based reimbursements. "We are getting a one-way ticket to value-based contracting," he said about the agreement with CareMore. Meanwhile, CareMore is planning to have "dozens" of similar deals with other providers, Leeba Lessin, CareMore's CEO, told the WSJ. Article