Jefferson and Temple Finalize Ownership of HealthPartners Plans

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jefferson Health and Temple Health announced today that they have finalized Jefferson's pursuit of Temple's ownership interest of Health Partners Plans (HPP), a not-for-profit health maintenance organization headquartered in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

This ownership interest represents a significant step forward for Jefferson, allowing the company to advance its value-based care model while reducing costs of healthcare services, particularly to underserved patients and families of the Greater Philadelphia region.

"This will help HPP care for more marginalized patient populations and provide access to critical, lifesaving and value-based care, while expanding their provider network to include all Jefferson Health locations," said Jefferson Health President Bruce A. Meyer, MD, MBA, who will also chair the HPP Board of Trustees. "The pandemic has drawn attention away from the national dialogue around total cost of care. Our ownership of HPP will help us bend the cost curve for the communities we serve."

HPP provides CHIP, Medicare Advantage and Dual Eligible Special Needs plans, and a nationally recognized Medicaid plan. The company currently serves nearly 290,000 people across Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry and Philadelphia counties.

"For more than 35 years, HPP has provided care for their members at all stages of their lives in and around the Philadelphia area," said Denise Napier, President and CEO of HPP.  "Our mission to transform lives and strengthen communities is supported by

Thomas Jefferson University. We remain committed to partnering with the provider community in all areas we service, and together, through value-based programs, address health disparities, inequities and improve the health outcomes of our members."

HPP was previously owned by a consortium of area hospitals, including Einstein Health Network and Temple Health. Temple agreed to sell its 50% ownership interest stake to Jefferson in 2019; the agreement was ratified Monday, November 1 with Jefferson agreeing to pay $305 million to Temple. Temple will continue to participate as a critical provider within the HPP network.

"Temple University Health System made this asset transaction to monetize its ownership shares of Health Partners Plans which will provide an infusion of cash for strategic investment and growth of our core operations," said Michael A. Young, MHA, FACHE, President & CEO of Temple University Health System and Temple University Hospital. "Proceeds from the sale give us a new degree of flexibility to recapitalize the Health System, obtain cash flow to strengthen our investment in people and programs, and fortify our balance sheet. Providing quality, value-based care to our vulnerable patient populations is a vital aspect of Temple Health's business model and we remain a participant in HPP's network—while also expanding shared-savings, direct-contracting, and other shared risk models with CMS, commercial insurers, FQHCs and others to further accelerate Temple Health's resurgence while remaining focused on the highest quality and efficiency for the community we serve," he added.

Jefferson's growth strategy enabled it to acquire the other 50% of HPP through previous mergers with Aria Health, and most recently the Einstein Health Network. The Thomas Jefferson University Board of Trustees deemed full ownership of HPP a vital and consequential strategic priority for the health system and unanimously approved the purchase with Temple.

Through this partnership, Jefferson and HPP will be the first companies in the region to create an aligned payer-provider partnership, known in health care circles as an Integrated Delivery and Financial System (IDFS). An IDFS is a highly organized coordinated health care system that better aligns provider incentives with community needs resulting in better community health as well as addressing the total cost of care.

Jefferson's track record of getting care into vulnerable communities in an effort to reduce the health disparities gap speaks for itself:

• Jefferson created the Philadelphia Collaborative for Health Equity (PCHE) with a goal of reducing the health equity gap across the city. Recently, the organization established the Closing The Gap initiative with Novartis to focus on reducing cardiac health disparities across the city's most vulnerable zip codes as well as The Frazier Family Coalition for Stroke Education and Prevention (a joint program offered by Temple and Jefferson).
• With the Einstein merger, Jefferson now accounts for approximately $448 million (based on 2020 data) in community benefits across the region.
• The establishment in the 1990s of Thomas Jefferson University student-run JeffHope, an anti-poverty and homelessness advocacy group based in Philadelphia.
• The world-renowned Maternal Addiction Treatment, Education and Research (MATER) center which offers housing and addiction recovery services to Philadelphia's opiate-dependent pregnant women.
• The Jefferson Latina Women's Clinic, which delivers care for vulnerable patients with no support system and nowhere else to turn.
• The establishment earlier this year of The Hansjörg Wyss Wellness Center at the Bok School in South Philadelphia, which provides free healthcare services to Philadelphia's refugee community, including thousands of Afghanistan refugees.
• The only city-funded Mobile Vaccine Unit which has brought pop-up vaccine programs into vulnerable zip codes and vaccinated more than 5,000 people against COVID-19.
• The absorption of patients displaced after the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital in 2019.
• A gift from Dietz & Watson funded Jefferson Health's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center's Mobile Cancer Screening program to better serve vulnerable populations in Greater Philadelphia.
• As part of Jefferson's Reimagine fundraising campaign, the enterprise has set a goal of raising $100 million for health equity initiatives in the greater Philadelphia region.

"Jefferson has always shown leadership in caring for the city's vulnerable populations," said U.S. Congressman Dwight Evans (D-PA-3rd), whose district includes Jefferson.  With Einstein Healthcare Network, Jefferson includes two safety-net hospitals. "Their ownership of HPP is an important and positive outcome for Jefferson, for all Philadelphians who rely on HPP for access to health care services, and for the stability of the health care market in Philadelphia."

"With the addition of HPP to the Jefferson family, our ability to provide health assurance to everyone starting at their home takes a giant step forward," added Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health. "Tackling health inequities and improving the health of our populations requires true coordination and combining the resources of HPP with the expanding Jefferson provider base is a prescription for better health for people in our community."

About Jefferson Health

Jefferson Health, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, is reimagining health care in the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Jefferson's dedicated team of doctors, nurses, health professionals and staff provides a range of primary to highly-specialized care through 18 hospitals (ten are Magnet®-designated by the ANCC for nursing excellence), more than 50 outpatient and urgent care locations, the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, MossRehab, and Magee Rehabilitation and the JeffConnect® telemedicine program. For 2021-2022, Jefferson is ranked among the nation's best hospitals in seven specialties by U.S. News & World Report. Jefferson Health's mission is to improve the lives of patients in the communities it is privileged to serve through safe, effective, equitable, compassionate care.

About Temple Health
Temple University Health System (TUHS) is a $2.4 billion academic health system dedicated to providing access to quality patient care and supporting excellence in medical education and research. The Health System  includes Temple University Hospital (TUH)-Main Campus; TUH-Episcopal Campus; TUH-Jeanes Campus; TUH-Northeastern Campus; Temple University Hospital – Fox Chase Cancer Center Outpatient Department; TUH-Northeastern Endoscopy Center; The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center, together with The Institute for Cancer Research, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; Fox Chase Cancer Center Medical Group, Inc., The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center's physician practice plans; Temple Transport Team, a ground and air-ambulance company; Temple Physicians, Inc., a network of community-based specialty and primary-care physician practices; and Temple Faculty Practice Plans, Inc., TUHS's physician practice plans. TUHS is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Katz School of Medicine. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents.

Non-discrimination notice: It is the policy of Temple University Hospital and The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center, that no one shall be excluded from or denied the benefits of or participation in the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

About Health Partners Plans

Health Partners Plans is a not-for-profit managed health care organization serving more than 290,000 members in Southeastern Pennsylvania. It provides a broad range of health coverage options through Health Partners Medicare, Health Partners (Medicaid) and KidzPartners (Children's Health Insurance Program). Founded more than 35 years ago, Health Partners Plans is one of the few hospital-owned health plans in the country. Learn more about how to PartnerUp with Health Partners Plans, visit HealthPartnersPlans.com, twitter.com/HPPlans and facebook.com/healthpartnersplans.

SOURCE Jefferson Health