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Diving brief:
- Stellarus, Blue Shield of California Sister Company has launched to help non -profit plans to follow their well -capitalized peers for profit,, added two new blues plans as partners.
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas and Hawaii Medical Service will deploy the Stellarus technological platform, including a Data Hub safeguarding complex as the commitment of members and the automation of previous authorization, as well as a digital health file, companies announced on Thursday.
- BCBS du Kansas and HMSA will take holdings in Stellarus as part of the agreement and will each receive a headquarters to the company. A Stellarus spokesman refused to disclose the financial conditions of the agreement, but said that “each co -founding plan has made a significant – financial and strategic commitment – to support Stellarus and influence its growth”.
Diving insight:
Blue Shield of California restructured in January to consolidate its finances, creating a new parent company called Ascendiun to supervise the payer, the Altais and Stellarus clinical services company.
The Stellarus platform brings together more than 60 data sets, including clinical affirmations, claims and demographic data, in a center to underlie tools such as members’ communications, population health management and payments integrity, according to society.
Stellarus also peddles the new Blue Shield pharmacy care model, which subcontracts pharmacy benefits with several suppliers in order to reduce costs.
Blue Shield – A payer who has differentiated himself by his desire to make large oscillations to slow down cost growth for his 6 million members – said his goal with Stellar is to sell services to other blues plans that they cannot afford to build.
Thursday news represents a step forward for this purpose, with BCBS of Kansas and HMSA, both licensed of blues with around 1 million members in their respective states, joining Stellarus as early adopters.
The leaders of the two plans said that investment in Stellarus will help them develop their technological bench while keeping their local independence.
“Given the size and geographic position of Hawaii, we are better if we improve our ability to innovate and increase our technological capacities by investing in Stellar with health plans with the same ideas and focusing on the mission and aimlessly that try to achieve the same things and solve the same problems,” said Dr. Mark Mugiishi, HMSA CEO, in a statement.
“By joining StellarWe invest with other non -profit plans to build something new – a modern and connected system designed to make health care simpler, more affordable and more personal, “said BCBS of Kansas CEO Matt everything.
A Stellarus spokesperson added that the partnership will help non-profit blues plans Reduce administrative and health costs to compete in a difficult landscape, in particular against large national payers who have more resources to resist challenges such as increasing costs for members and invest in technology to modernize their operations.
It is a delicate moment for insurers. The profitability of the industry as a whole has dropped considerably because Americans use more and more expensive medical care. The margins beneficiary of insurers-health fell on average 2.2% in 2023 to only 0.8% in 2024, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Although it is still early for Stellarus, the company has a wide range of potential customers: 32 of the 33 independent blues plans are non -profit, not to mention other non -profit insurers who could be interested in associating on technological solutions that they are unable to build.
A Stellarus spokesperson has not shared additional details on customer demand for Stellarus and the company’s financial performance, especially if it is profitable.
Blue Shield himself reports more than $ 27 billion in annual income and said $ 103 million in net profit last year.
