Humana Partners DaVita Unit To Enhance MA Plans In Florida

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) recently joined forces with JSA Medical Group to add one primary care practice to its Florida Medicare Advantage (MA) Plan Networks. JSA Medical Group is a unit of DaVita Inc. (DVA). Notably, the companies had teamed up last year as well to provide better healthcare to Humana’s MA beneficiaries residing in Florida. Presently, Humana’s MA members have access to total three JSA Medical Group practices in Florida, including the new location in Sarasota and the two existing ones in Bradenton.

The new practice is operated by JSA Medical Group and accepts certain MA plans administered only by Humana. However, it will now accept traditional Medicare as well.

JSA Medical Group is renowned for its unique coordinated care approach. The entity brings together primary care providers, specialists and professional staff to provide individualized care to patients and improve their overall health. Hence, teaming up with JSA Medical Group would enable Humana to keep pace with the rapidly changing healthcare needs of customers.

Humana forms these value-based relationships to strategically transform healthcare through more proactive and patient-centric high quality medical assistance.With the addition of this new practice, Humana is expected to be able to render high quality care. The company also aims to increase patients’ ability to manage their own care and understand the requirements for their health and well-being. Collectively, Humana and JSA Medical Group aim to provide premium healthcare to patients in Florida.

Humana boasts a solid Medicare history. In 2015, Humana’s MA members served by physicians under value-based care arrangements experienced 6% fewer Emergency Room (ER) visits, higher screening rates and healthier outcomes than those served by physicians with MA plans of other providers. At the end of the third quarter of 2016, Humana had 1.8 million individual MA members and 0.2 million commercial members, who were cared for by 0.05 million primary care providers in more than 900 value-based relationships across 43 states and Puerto Rico. As of Sep 30, 2016, nearly 63% of Humana’s individual MA members are in value-based payment relationships. The company expects 75% individual MA members to be enrolled in the value-based payment models by the end of 2017.

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Humana remains committed to help its members achieve optimal health by providing innovative and value-added solutions that cater to customers’ changing healthcare needs. This is a proactive approach by the company to spread awareness about health amongst its members. This reduces the incidence of severe sickness, which consequently keeps claims cost at bay and supports margin expansion. Humana presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

However, the company has been witnessing a rise in healthcare costs due to rapid growth of the aging population and increased life expectancy. Year to date, the stock has gained 16.45%, which is much lower than 19.18% gained by the Zacks-categorized Health Maintenance Organization Industry.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors can also look at other well-ranked medical sector stocks like WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE:WCG) , Magellan Health Inc. (NASDAQ:MGLN) and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH)

WellCare sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The company delivered positive surprise in the last four quarters with an average beat of 40.01%

Magellan delivered positive surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 42.58%. It also sports a Zacks Rank #1.

UnitedHealth carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company delivered positive surprises in all the last four quarters with an average beat of 3.86%.

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