True Health NM to exit state’s insurance market, owner says
Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal
About 38,000 New Mexicans will have to find a new health insurer next year.
Bright Health Group, the owner of True Health New Mexico, announced Thursday that it will no longer offer individual and family plans for the 2023 plan year to members in New Mexico and five other states.
Nothing will change this year for New Mexicans with True Health plans, but those members will need to find new plans during the next open enrollment period beginning Nov. 1, 2022, said Joanie Griffin, speaking for True Health.
Group plans will stay in place through the end of the specific contract year, she said.
The company will work to make sure current members have transitioned to new plans. Current members can reach out to customer service for additional help, Griffin said. Customer service for True Health New Mexico can be reached at 1-844-508-4677.
Members will soon receive discontinuation notices, according to a news release.
The announcement of the discontinuation of plans in New Mexico comes just over one year after Minneapolis-based Bright Health Group announced the purchase of True Health from Evolent Health for $22 million.
According to the company, the move to no longer offer coverage is a “strategic decision” to increase its focus on growing markets.
New Mexico, Illinois, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia – the states where Bright Health is discontinuing coverage – represent 5% of Bright Health Group’s total revenue, the company said in a news release announcing the change.
About 30 jobs will be lost in New Mexico from this decision, Griffin said, though most employees will stay on until all plans have been phased out or until the end of 2023.
True Health was founded in 2017, after another now-defunct organization, New Mexico Health Connections, received regulatory approval to sell off its commercial business to one of its vendors. That sale, to Virginia-based Evolent Health, established True Health New Mexico as a for-profit company.
True Health touts itself as a physician-led insurer; it was originally led by Dr. Martin Hickey, who was succeeded by Dr. Mark Epstein in early 2020. Epstein departed the company last month, Griffin confirmed Thursday.
Journal business editor Gabrielle Porter contributed to this report.
