Aetna Inc. AET recently announced its agreements with Oak Street Health and ChenMed for providing access of these new primary care centers operators to its Medicare members in the Philadelphia market. The health care company was already working with the two centers in other regions and has now collaborated to enhance its patient care in Philadelphia region.
With these deals, Aetna expects to serve people suffering chronic conditions like diabetes, congestive heart failure etc. in a much better way. Patients will gain constant support and would no longer have to suffer because of inadequate capacity.
Meanwhile, Oak Street and ChenMed would be able to expand respective footprints in Philadelphia, which would boost portfolios in turn. Both centers work on enriching the patients’ experience with proper models such as, longer doctor appointments, commuting to and from doctor-check-ups, complete attention on wellness and preventive care as well as improved services to manage the ailing afflicted with chronic health conditions. Aetna would certainly be able to gain traction from all these factors.
Both these arrangements are different from traditional fee-for-service alliances but are actually risk-bearing arrangements wherein Oak Street and ChenMed estimate financial responsibilities for Aetna. The latter would be paying its partners on a monthly basis for providing care to its members and the companies’ profit or loss would be dependent on the manner of managing costs and providing patient care.
Under its Dedicated Senior Medical Centers brand, ChenMed has already opened practice sites in Olney, North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and Mayfair sections of the city. The company has a plan to open up 10 centers over a span of next five years in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Oak Street has purchased the Medicare operations of four Philadelphia CityLife Neighborhood Clinics from Nashville-based Ampersand Health. Its primary-care health clinic on Cheltenham Avenue in Wyncote, Montgomery County, began its operations on Sep 20, 2018. Its other clinics in Philadelphia will open in October.
Aetna’s Medicare business continues to be a meaningful source of growth and it performed exceptionally well in the past several quarters, primarily driven by strong star ratings, attractive product designs and an expanding geographic presence.
Shares of the company have surged 30.8% in a year’s time, underperforming its industry’s rise of 38.7%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Stocks to Consider
Investors looking for some better-ranked stocks may consider options like WellCare Health Plans, Inc. WCG, Anthem, Inc. ANTM and Triple-S Management Corporation GTS.
WellCare Health provides managed care services for government-sponsored health care programs. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and delivered an average trailing four-quarter beat of 53.89%. You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Operating as a health benefits company in the United States, Anthem pulled of an encouraging positive surprise of 6.65% over the preceding four quarters. It holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Triple-S Management and its subsidiaries provide a portfolio of managed care and related products in the commercial, Medicare and Medicaid markets in Puerto Rico, the United States. It carries a Zacks Rank of 2 and managed to come up with a whopping average four-quarter earnings surprise of 187.91%.
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