Dive Brief:
- Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University Health System said they will offer a low-cost health plan if their merger is approved, the Chicago Business Journal reported.
- The plan’s price would be 10% less than that of the lowest-cost competing health maintenance organization.
- The Federal Trade Commission, which must approve the merger, has challenged it on grounds it will drive up prices for patients in the Chicago area.
Dive Insight:
It’s unclear whether the proposal is enough to ease the FTC’s concerns about the merger, which would combine more than a dozen hospitals and a physician force of more than 2,000. The agency filed a lawsuit to block the marriage in December.
The hospital networks said the insurance plan would only be offered if the merger goes through, giving them a much broader patient base.
If allowed, Advocate and NorthShore plan to offer the low-cost health plan to Chicago area workers, but they would be limited to using physicians in the combined hospital system.