Des Moines, Iowa — AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, a Medicaid managed care health plan serving the IA Health Link program, and Mercy Health Network, a health care system with award winning facilities and providers across Iowa, announced today they have signed a new agreement that will maintain AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa members’ access to Mercy Health Network’s owned hospitals, clinics and other health care services and facilities.
Mercy Health Network (MHN), based in West Des Moines, Iowa, is an integrated system of hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities dedicated to delivering outstanding health care services and improving the health of people throughout Iowa and contiguous areas. MHN owns and operates eight medical centers and other services in six major markets in Iowa – Clinton, Des Moines, Dubuque, Mason City, Sioux City and Waterloo/Cedar Falls – and community hospitals in seven other locations in Iowa and surrounding states, including a joint-ventured surgical hospital in South Dakota. In addition to the owned hospitals and clinics covered in the agreement, MHN has 27 affiliated organizations including Mercy Iowa City.
“We are pleased to continue our relationship with Mercy Health Network,” said AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa Market President Cheryl Harding. “For more than 30 years, our family of companies has specialized in helping individuals who are most in need to access quality health care and services. Mercy Health Network is a component of our efforts to build healthy communities across this state. We appreciate its efforts to work with us to help our members get the care they need.”
“This is great news for our patients and communities,” said Mercy Health Network CEO David Vellinga. “Patient care is always our number one priority, and the efforts made by both organizations resulted in a continued relationship that will preserve in-network access for our patients. We look forward to continuing our relationship with AmeriHealth Caritas and serving our patients with affordable, high quality care.”
The IA Health Link program serves the majority of Iowa’s Medicaid population, or about 560,000 Iowans, through select managed care plans. For more information about the IA Health Link program, visit www.iahealthlink.gov.
About AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, part of the AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies, is one of the Medicaid managed care plans that participate in IA Health Link. AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa helps Iowans get proper care and stay well, working with communities in need to achieve positive health outcomes throughout the state. For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritasia.com.
About AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies
AmeriHealth Caritas is part of the Independence Health Group in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. AmeriHealth Caritas is one of the nation’s leaders in health care solutions for those most in need. Operating in 17 states and the District of Columbia, AmeriHealth Caritas serves more than 5.7 million Medicaid, Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) members through its integrated managed care products, pharmaceutical benefit management and specialty pharmacy services, behavioral health services, and other administrative services. Headquartered in Philadelphia, AmeriHealth Caritas is a mission-driven organization with more than 30 years of experience serving low-income and chronically ill populations. For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritas.com.
About Mercy Health Network MHN was created to add value to participating organizations and communities by reducing costs, improving quality, increasing accessibility to care, and improving the health of those we are privileged to serve. One in four Iowans who seek health care do so at an MHN-affiliated organization. Its Midwest Rural Telemedicine Consortium is the largest telemedicine program in Iowa.
MHN was founded in 1998 under a joint operating agreement between two of the largest Catholic, not-for-profit health organizations in the United States: Catholic Health Initiatives, based in Englewood, Colorado, and Trinity Health, based in Livonia, Michigan. MHN includes more than 3,200 licensed hospital beds, employs more than 17,000 people.
More than 2,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians provide care in MHN facilities. Nearly 1,000 of them formally integrated into the organization, making MHN one of the largest multi-specialist physician group practices in Iowa.
