Bright Health expands into 42 new markets

Bright Health Group

Bright Health will expand its market presence to 42 new geographic areas next year, increasing is national reach, the company announced Tuesday.

The Minneapolis-based health insurance carrier will sell policies in 131 markets across 17 states after the expansion takes effect. Bright Health plans to move into Georgia, Texas, Utah and Virginia while increasing its existing portfolio in California, Colorado, Florida and North Carolina.

“Our model is built on three-way alignment of the needs and interests of the consumer, the healthcare provider, and the health plan,” Bright Health CEO Simeon Schindelman said. “We do that in a local integrated system of care.”

Bright Health will begin offering plans on Covered California, the states’s health insurance exchange. Texas, which has the third-largest population of potential enrollees, offers the company a big business opportunity.

Bright Health’s expansion isn’t finished, Schindelman said. “The affirmation comes from the fact that healthcare providers want to work with us [and] consumers want to buy our products, so they’re demonstrating that what we’re doing is working,” he said. “We’re delivering new value that the marketplace needs and appreciates.”

Bright Health, launched in 2017, sells individual, commercial and Medicare Advantage policies and currently covers 623,000 people.

The company intends to serve as many people as possible while lowering costs and increasing quality, Schindelman said.

Bright Health helps consumers establish relationships with primary care providers and gain access to care, and providers collaborate to tailor care plans with patients, Schindelman said. Using Bright Health’s DocSquad technology, providers and patients can share information and connect more easily, he said.