CoOportunity Health and University of Iowa Health Alliance Announce Collaboration

(DES MOINES, Iowa) July 8, 2013 — CoOportunity Health and University of Iowa Health Alliance (UIHA) announced today they are collaborating to introduce two unique health plan products for Iowans this fall. Both plan designs have been submitted to the Iowa Insurance Division for approval with the intention of offering them on the new Iowa Health Insurance Marketplace, the Iowa SHOP Exchange, and in the open market for individuals and employer groups of all sizes.  

Both health plan offerings — “CoOportunity Choice UI Health Alliance” and “CoOportunity Preferred UI Health Alliance” — feature a provider network that includes all member organizations of UIHA, including Genesis Health System, Mercy-Cedar Rapids, Mercy Health Network (including hospitals affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives and CHE Trinity Health, Livonia, Mich.), and University of Iowa Health Care. This alliance of four entities includes over 50 hospitals and more than 160 clinics across Iowa with key locations in Des Moines, Davenport, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Dubuque, and Mason City. In addition to University of Iowa Health Alliance members, other hospitals, physicians, and ancillary providers across the state are engaged in discussions with CoOportunity Health to participate in all health plan offerings. Pending final approvals, CoOportunity Health intends to market the University of Iowa Health Alliance product offerings in more than 75 percent of the counties in Iowa. 

“We believe this groundbreaking partnership is not only a unique opportunity for two new players in the Iowa healthcare landscape ― University of Iowa Health Alliance and CoOportunity Health ― to work together, but our collaboration means Iowans will benefit significantly from these unique health insurance options, particularly this year when the Marketplace opens for the first time,” said Dan Kueter, executive director of University of Iowa Health Alliance.

 CoOportunity Choice UI Health Alliance is an open-access, tiered-benefit design plan that provides significant consumer savings when University of Iowa Health Alliance facilities and clinicians are used for services. CoOportunity Preferred UI Health Alliance is a select-network plan that provides the most cost-effective choice for purchasers interested in using University of Iowa Health Alliance providers exclusively.  “This is an unprecedented era in the world of health insurance and healthcare,” said David Lyons, CEO, CoOportunity Health. “It’s the ideal environment for nonprofits like CoOportunity and the member organizations of UI Health Alliance to work together to bring about real change in the status quo, to focus on what should matter most in healthcare: the quality of patient care and more efficient use of resources. These two products in addition to CoOportunity’s broad PPO product offering mean we’ll offer the broadest product portfolio in Iowa.”