Clover Health (NASDAQ: CLOV) (“Clover”), an innovative technology company committed to improving health equity for America’s underserved seniors, announces plans to nearly double its geographic footprint. The expansion, which is subject to CMS approval, will make Clover’s Medicare Advantage (MA) plans available to eligible individuals in a total of 209 counties across nine states.
Individuals eligible for Medicare in these new counties can sign up for Clover’s plans during the Annual Election Period, which runs from October 15 to December 7, with coverage starting on January 1, 2022.
Clover currently offers its Medicare Advantage plans in 108 counties where it cares for approximately 66,300 members. The planned expansion will bring coverage to an additional 101 counties, 94 of which are in Clover’s existing states of Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas, and seven of which are in Alabama—a new state for the company. Clover also has plans available in Arizona, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
“This expansion would allow more seniors—many of whom live in rural areas and are more likely to face health disparities than those in more urban areas—to access Clover’s high value, affordable, open network plans and data-driven, personalized care made possible by our clinical support tool, the Clover Assistant,” said Andrew Toy, President of Clover Health. “By empowering a wide network of primary care physicians with the Clover Assistant, we aim to improve care coordination and address care gaps and ultimately enhance the quality of care and lower overall medical expenses for more Medicare eligibles in underserved communities. Going forward, we plan to be even more focused on expanding Clover’s plans to eligibles in these underserved communities.”
Going into 2022, all of the company’s plans will be operating solely under the Clover brand, and as such, Clover will discontinue its current co-branding arrangement with Walmart in eight Georgia counties. There will be no material change to benefits under those plans, and Clover expects there to be no disruption for its members in these plans.
Additionally, Clover intends to introduce a number of new benefits, some of which may be launched to existing Clover members as early as the third quarter of 2021. For many of its plans, Clover intends to expand its over-the-counter benefit and add a grocery benefit, which would be available in many major retailers (including Walmart), additional local supermarkets, and regional chains.