We reported on Sept. 12 that Molina Healthcare Inc. will add OC to its Covered California service area next year. It now seems to be laying groundwork to add Medicare here in 2018, and a move into Medi-Cal is possible.
Covered California is the state entity that brings patients under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Medicare provides health insurance mostly for people 65 and older, and Medi-Cal is the state’s Medicaid program for low-income people.
Long Beach-based Molina will insure about 700,000 people in seven counties under its new Covered California deal.
It began offering Medicare Advantage in the Inland Empire this year after it added the offering in Utah in its first foray last year.
Inland Empire enrollment “has been slow,” but expansion makes some sense, said Richard Chambers, senior vice president of policy and advocacy.
“We have the (corporate) administrative infrastructure” to grow in Orange County, he said. Molina last month filled a new position with the hire of Vice President of Medicare Sales Britt Travis to oversee some of the work companywide.
New relationships with Monarch Health Plan Inc. in Irvine and Affiliated Doctors of Orange County Medical Group in Orange for its Covered California entrance make local growth more workable, and it fits Molina’s focus on Southern California and lower-income and older clients.
“A lot of low-income seniors are just above Medi-Cal eligibility, and they live in the communities we serve,” Travis said.
Covered California, Medicare and Medi-Cal plans in the counties Molina covers would offer clients consistency across generations and geography, regardless of income shifts that trigger a change in coverage types.
Molina would have to apply with the federal government by mid-2017 to offer Medicare Advantage locally starting in 2018. There’s no time constraint on Medi-Cal involvement, which is handled in OC through CalOptima, Chambers said.
Molina may have an advantage if it decides to add Medi-Cal through CalOptima: Chambers was chief executive of the county public healthcare agency for eight years before joining Molina.
Biolase Maps Growth
Biolase Inc. in Irvine wants to triple European dental laser market revenue in the long term and has hired longtime European market executive Holger Arens to help it get there.
Arens is vice president and managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, a new role. He’s tasked with driving business in a region that’s lagged its potential, according to Chief Executive Harold Flynn.
“[EMEA isn’t] performing yet at a level proportionally equivalent to the U.S.,” Flynn said. “It should be.”
He said the region accounted for about 20% of Biolase’s $48.5 million in revenue last year and that he wants it to bring in 50%.
Biolase has said it’s working to raise annual revenue to $60 million, which puts a $30 million goal on Arens.
Flynn said he couldn’t give specifics on timing but that he expects “material progress toward this objective [within] three to five years.”
Arens has 17 years’ experience in dental and medical technology in Europe, most of that time with KaVo Dental GmbH in Biberach, Germany, a unit of Danaher Corp. KaVo employs about 600 at its office in Orange.
“He knows people and companies (in Europe), and the local issues and challenges,” Flynn said.
Country-by-country complexity extends from insurance and reimbursements to “the university the dentist attended,” so “you really have to understand the local market.”
Flynn added that, “It’s complicated, but (worth it because) as a market it’s a larger opportunity than the U.S.”
He said Germany and Italy can each produce a third of the revenue of the U.S. and that a combined United Kingdom, Spain and France kick in another third—which means the rest of the region is icing on the cake.
Credit Firm Renews, Expands
CareCredit in Costa Mesa renewed agreements with four dental groups in about 20 states in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast.
The company provides third-party financing for health and dental expenses via a credit card held by about 10 million people and accepted by about 200,000 providers and retailers.
CareCredit has begun to expand beyond conventional health and dental care into other wellness markets. This year it signed a deal with Nautilus Inc. in Vancouver, Wash., to finance Bowflex fitness equipment purchases, and one that allows its card to be used at Rite Aid stores.
Bits & Pieces
S&P Global Ratings revised Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s outlook from stable to positive and reaffirmed A-level ratings on several of its bonds. An analyst said the outlook revision “reflects our view of CHOC’s growing volumes and improving operating income and cash flow.” … Edwards Lifesciences Corp. in Irvine received CE Marking for its Inspiris Resilia aortic valve, “the first in a new class of resilient heart valves” the company said. The designation gives regulatory approval in many countries, most of which are in Europe; the valve is not approved for commercial use in the U.S.
