Evergreen Health is courting private investors after continued financial struggles have threatened the nonprofit health plan's viability, reports Baltimore Sun.
Evergreen Health CEO Peter Beilenson, MD, said the carrier's board of directors voted unanimously Monday to solicit a private bidder. The acquiring company will be announced in November, after Evergreen Health converts to a for-profit entity.
Dr. Beilenson attributed the carrier's financial challenges to a "fatally flawed" payment issue involving CMS' risk adjustment program under the Affordable Care Act. Evergreen Health filed a complaint against CMS in June to prevent the carrier from paying $22 million in risk adjustment fees to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.
"In order to stay viable, we decided the best road to take is to have someone acquire us," Dr. Beilenson told Boston Business Journal. "This is to get us out from underneath CMS and put us in a much better financial situation."
Dr. Beilenson assured policyholders the for-profit transition "will be seamless," according to Boston Business Journal.