This week we are reading about Amerilife’s growth investment and market expansion, Integrity Marketing Group’s employee ownership plan and social risk factors that may influence CMS star rankings.

Amerilife Announces Growth Investment from Thomas H. Lee Partners to Continue Rapid Expansion | PR Newswire | January 7, 2020

AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife” or the “Company”), the national leader in marketing and distributing life, health, and retirement solutions, today announced that it has entered into a recapitalization agreement with an investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”), a premier private equity firm investing in growth companies, and other investors including Cannae Holdings and certain THL limited partners. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 subject to customary closing conditions, were not disclosed. THL is acquiring a majority stake from J.C. Flowers & Co., LLC (“J.C. Flowers”), a leading private investment firm dedicated to investing globally in the financial services industry, and other investors.

Read the full press release on prnewswire.com here.


Integrity Marketing Group Announces Employee Ownership Plan; Nearly $50 Million Paid Out to Employees | PR Newswire | December 10, 2019

Integrity Marketing Group, LLC (“Integrity”), the nation’s largest independent distributor of life and health insurance products, today announced the completion of a new Employee Ownership Plan. The plan provides meaningful ownership to all of Integrity’s eligible employees who have at least one year of tenure, at no cost to them.

 

This represents a plan for all of Integrity’s 750 employees from every level at more than 30 brands around the country. In addition, employees of newly-acquired businesses will also join the ownership program, giving everyone the opportunity to share in the combined success of the overall Integrity platform.

 

To celebrate the launch of this remarkable Employee Ownership Plan, the company has retroactively paid out almost $50 million to all employees in recognition of their contributions to Integrity’s success and to demonstrate the commitment to employee ownership at Integrity.

Read the full press release on prnewswire.com here.


Social risk factors may influence CMS star ratings, study suggests | Healthcare Dive | January 9, 2020

Social risk factors may impact the quality scores that hospitals in vulnerable communities earn in CMS’ Hospital Compare star rating system, a study in the journal Medical Care suggests.

 

Researchers at University of Chicago Medicine found associations between some quality scores used in the ratings program and neighborhood-level social risk factors such as the percentage of residents who are unemployed or do not have a high school degree. The quality score most strongly associated with social risk factors was timeliness of care — a measure hospitals have minimal control over because it reflects how abundant (or not) medical services are in a community.

Read the full article on healthcaredive.com here.


Amerilife Continues Market Expansion with Stephens-Matthews Marketing Partnership | PR Newswire | January 9, 2020

AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”) – the national leader in marketing and distributing life, health and retirement solutions – has partnered with Stephens-Matthews Marketing (Stephens-Matthews), a leading insurance marketing organization, to expand AmeriLife’s distribution reach in meeting the needs of pre-retirees and retirees.

 

Stephens-Matthews, through its 49-state network, has been providing quality health, life and ancillary insurance products and marketing services to agents for 35 years. The company is a trusted source in the brokerage industry for providing working Americans and retirees with a full range of health insurance solutions, including major medical, short term medical, Medicare Supplement insurance plans and Medicare Advantage insurance plans, as a part of its broad suite of individual and group insurance products.

Read the full press release on prnewswire.com here.