Madison & Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Quartz and Advocate Aurora Health plan to collaborate to enhance access to high quality, coordinated, affordable health care in eastern Wisconsin.
The collaboration would bring two of Wisconsin's leading health care organizations together to introduce a Medicare Advantage HMO plan for seniors. A non-binding letter of intent (LOI) has been signed and the two organizations are exploring this potential opportunity in greater detail. The plan would be administered by Quartz and powered by Aurora Health Care's vast physician network.
"Advocate Aurora Health's focus on patient care, population health and building healthy communities aligns well with the missions and visions of Quartz's other provider owners," said Terry Bolz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quartz. "The collaboration with Advocate Aurora Health provides Quartz with a great opportunity to offer our 5-Star Medicare Advantage product to serve seniors."
The parties anticipate signing a definitive agreement in the next few months, allowing the joint Medicare Advantage plan to go into effect on January 1, 2021. This plan would be available for selection during Medicare's annual open enrollment, October 15 through December 7, 2020. Quartz recently announced its Medicare Advantage HMO plan has been awarded the highest overall rating of five out of five stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the 2020 plan year*, marking the eighth time the plan has achieved the 5-Star designation.
"As a national leader in population health, we are committed to leading the transformation to better health care value to help more people and communities live well," said Rick Klein, Chief Business Development Officer of Advocate Aurora Health. "We continue to seek innovative ways to partner with health insurers like Quartz to advance these efforts and make quality health care more accessible and affordable."
The collaboration also includes the addition of Aurora Health Care physicians and sites of care in select Quartz commercial networks to expand access to high-quality primary and specialty care for current Quartz members. This component of the collaboration was effective January 1, 2020.
*Star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next.
Media Contacts:
Advocate Aurora Health
LeeAnn Betz
leeann.Betz@aurora.org
414-299-1698
Quartz
Christina Ott
christina.ott@QuartzBenefits.com
608-471-4766
About Quartz
Quartz Health Solutions, Inc. (Quartz) is jointly owned by UW Health, Gundersen Health System and UnityPoint Health. The company manages four nationally recognized, provider-sponsored health insurance plans: Quartz Health Benefit Plans Corporation, Quartz Health Plan Corporation, Quartz Health Plan MN Corporation and Quartz Health Insurance Corporation. As a third-party administrator, Quartz also services self-funded health plans. Through an extensive provider network, Quartz focuses on local, community-based health care and services for more than 340,000 customers who live in southern and western Wisconsin, parts of Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. Quartz maintains offices in Madison, Sauk City and Onalaska, Wisconsin. Quartz Health Solutions, Inc., Quartz Health Benefit Plans Corporation, Quartz Health Plan Corporation, Quartz Health Plan MN Corporation and Quartz Health Insurance Corporation are separate legal entities. For more information, visit QuartzBenefits.com.
About Advocate Aurora Health
Advocate Aurora Health is one of the 10 largest not-for-profit, integrated health systems in the United States and a leading employer in the Midwest with more than 70,000 employees, including more than 22,000 nurses and the region's largest employed medical staff and home health organization. A national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin across more than 500 sites of care. Advocate Aurora is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies and is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology and pediatrics. The organization contributed $2.1 billion in charitable care and services to its communities in 2018. We help people live well.