Virginia Premier Medicaid members to become Optima Health members
All Sentara Health Medicaid membership will move into a single plan as Optima Health in mid-summer; Optima Health will transition to the new name Sentara Health Plans by the end of 2023.
Virginia Premier and Optima Health will combine into a single plan. Virginia Premier, which provides Medicaid coverage to more than 300,000 Virginians, will move its Medicaid membership to Optima Health effective July 1, 2023. Virginia Premier and Optima Health are owned by Sentara Health and support nearly 750,000 total Medicaid members in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“Bringing the Virginia Premier Medicaid membership over to Optima Health will enable us to continue to provide a superior customer experience for our Medicaid membership — while also creating efficiencies that support lower costs for the state and reduced administrative burden on health care providers.” said Colin Drozdowski, president of Sentara Health Plans and executive vice president of Sentara Health. “This will allow Sentara to invest even more resources back into our communities and design a more seamless care and service experience.”
Virginia Premier Medicaid members enrolled as of June 30, 2023, will keep their same health coverage and benefits, but they will become members of Optima Health. At this time, the Virginia Premier D-SNP will continue to operate under the Virginia Premier name and there will be no changes in benefits and services. Following the combination of the plans, Virginia Premier will not be a Medicaid plan option during open enrollment, but enrollees will be able to choose Optima Health for their Medicaid plan.
In addition, Sentara Health Plans is guiding members through the Medicaid Eligibility redetermination effort following the end of the national Public Health Emergency spurred by Covid-19 by either renewing their benefits or finding new healthcare coverage.
Last week Sentara Health announced its new name and the name for its health plans, Sentara Health Plans. As an Integrated Delivery Network (IDN) the change deepens the alignment between Sentara’s healthcare services and health plans. Sentara Health Plans will begin introducing the brand to the market this fall. In Virginia, all health plan members will receive Sentara Health Plans ID Cards around January 1, 2024.
“Bringing the Virginia Premier Medicaid membership over to Optima Health will enable us to continue to provide a superior customer experience for our Medicaid membership — while also creating efficiencies that support lower costs for the state and reduced administrative burden on health care providers.” said Colin Drozdowski, president of Sentara Health Plans and executive vice president of Sentara Health. “This will allow Sentara to invest even more resources back into our communities and design a more seamless care and service experience.”
Virginia Premier Medicaid members enrolled as of June 30, 2023, will keep their same health coverage and benefits, but they will become members of Optima Health. At this time, the Virginia Premier D-SNP will continue to operate under the Virginia Premier name and there will be no changes in benefits and services. Following the combination of the plans, Virginia Premier will not be a Medicaid plan option during open enrollment, but enrollees will be able to choose Optima Health for their Medicaid plan.
In addition, Sentara Health Plans is guiding members through the Medicaid Eligibility redetermination effort following the end of the national Public Health Emergency spurred by Covid-19 by either renewing their benefits or finding new healthcare coverage.
Last week Sentara Health announced its new name and the name for its health plans, Sentara Health Plans. As an Integrated Delivery Network (IDN) the change deepens the alignment between Sentara’s healthcare services and health plans. Sentara Health Plans will begin introducing the brand to the market this fall. In Virginia, all health plan members will receive Sentara Health Plans ID Cards around January 1, 2024.