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MANAGED CARE |
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More industry consolidation as Aetna
buys Horizon Health
Insurance giant Aetna, Inc., bought Horizon Health Services from
Psychiatric Solutions at the end of July, paying a reported $70
million. Horizon is a top-10 player in the EAP field, with something
like five million covered lives, while Aetna’s behavioral health unit
covers about 20 million lives for managed care and EAP combined. 
An operator of inpatient mental health
facilities, Psychiatric Solutions acquired Horizon just two years
ago. The decision to sell, according to industry reports, was
based primarily on a need for cash to service its debt.
The consolidated Aetna Behavioral Health
will be among the five or six largest companies in managed
behavioral health care, along with OptumHealth Behavioral (formerly
UBH), Magellan, ComPsych, WellPoint, and ValueOptions.
A rep in Horizon’s provider relations
department tells us that Horizon providers will not automatically be
placed on the Aetna panel. "You still have be credentialled by
Aetna," she said.
We’re told the merger should be completed
by the end of the year--but based on previous mergers of this type,
it’s unlikely that all provider network issues will be resolved by
then. Stay tuned--and see the box, right.
A list of the top 10 companies--both in
managed behavioral health and EAP--appeared in the January, 2009,
PsyFin. Subscribers can request a free PDF copy by emailing:
editors@psyfin.com.
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