Evolent Health Partners with Beacon Health Options and Empower Provider-Led Arkansas Shared Services Entity to Support Medicaid Operations in Arkansas

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolent Health, a company providing an integrated value-based care platform to the nation's leading provider and payer organizations, today announced it will provide health plan operations, care management and provider network services and the Identifi^SM population health performance management platform to Beacon Health Options and Empower Healthcare Solutions, LLC, a Provider-led Arkansas Shared Services Entity (PASSE) that serves high-need Medicaid enrollees in Arkansas with behavioral health, intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Launched in 2018, Empower PASSE is led by five provider organizations and Beacon Health Options, collaborating to coordinate behavioral health care and long-term support services for thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries in Arkansas. Empower PASSE is expected to begin operations on March 1, 2019, when the state's program goes live. Through a contract with Beacon Health Options—one of the founding members of Empower PASSE—Evolent will support the launch of the Medicaid managed care plan. Working under a fully integrated model with Beacon, Evolent will continue to provide a wide range of ongoing support, including health plan member and provider services; claims processing; provider data management; member and provider portals; analytics; utilization management; and provider data services and technology.

"Empower PASSE is dedicated to ensuring Arkansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to high-quality behavioral and health care services and support when they need it," said Beacon Health Options President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Russell Petrella. "By integrating Beacon and Evolent's behavioral and medical services and expertise, we will continue fulfilling our commitment in Arkansas, delivering whole person care for the members we serve. We are confident Evolent's proven health plan services and population health platform will enable us to deliver evidence-based, reliable services to our plan's enrollees, as well as critical technology and support services to our network of providers."

The PASSE program is a Medicaid managed care program launched by the Arkansas Department of Human Services. The program is focused on a new model of organized care aimed at addressing the service needs of Medicaid beneficiaries with complex behavioral health needs and intellectual and developmental disabilities. One of the PASSE program's primary objectives is to achieve more efficient and cost-effective services use over a five-year period through a shift to managed care, better case management and care coordination.

"We are delighted to support Empower PASSE to help cultivate a value-based, provider-led approach in Arkansas focused on improving access to medical and behavioral care while lowering costs," said Evolent Health Chief Executive Officer Frank Williams. "We look forward to leveraging our robust health plan services platform and capabilities to support Empower PASSE as it drives innovation and initially serves more than 15,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Arkansas."

Evolent's Medicaid Center of Excellence will provide Empower PASSE with Evolent's Identifi platform to support health plan operations, care management, provider and other critical workflows. The Center of Excellence offers a model for providers across the nation to implement nonprofit, provider-sponsored, community-based Medicaid health plans in their communities.

About Evolent Health
Evolent Health partners with leading provider and payer organizations to achieve superior clinical and financial results in value-based care and under full-risk arrangements. With a provider heritage and over 20 years of health plan administration experience, Evolent operates in more than 30 U.S. health care markets, actively managing care across Medicare, Medicaid, commercial and self-funded adult and pediatric populations. With the experience to drive change, Evolent confidently stands by a commitment to achieve results. For more information, visit www.evolenthealth.com.

SOURCE Evolent Health, Inc.