St. Louis-based Ascension has reached an agreement to transfer full ownership of its co-owned Arizona managed care health plan, Mercy Care, to CVS Health subsidiary Aetna, a spokesperson for Ascension confirmed with Becker’s.
Ascension co-owns the plan with San Francisco-based CommonSpirit’s Dignity Health, the spokesperson confirmed. The agreement is subject to regulatory reviews and approvals.
“Mercy Care has long served vulnerable populations, families and individuals across Arizona through Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Medicaid programs and Medicare Duals Special Needs Plans,” the spokesperson said. “Aetna has successfully managed Mercy Care’s day-to-day operations and administrative services for over 20 years.”
Ascension’s spokesperson said this ownership transition to Aetna is a “natural evolution” of the partnership, and aligns Mercy Care’s community roots and operational framework with Aetna’s long-term capital resources, scale and technology infrastructure.
This is not the first time Ascension has offloaded its stake in health plans. In late 2023, Ascension Wisconsin sold its 50% stake in Network Health, an insurer offering commercial and Medicare plans, to Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health. Ascension also revealed in June 2024 that it would no longer offer individual health plans on the Texas ACA marketplace past 2024.
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