WVU Medicine Structures Peak Health Plan as Cost Center
Becker's Hospital Review profiles WVU Medicine's provider-sponsored health plan, Peak Health, which now covers more than 80,000 lives across Medicare Advantage, an administrative services organization business, and a planned ACA marketplace product. CFO Nick Barcellona says the system deliberately runs Peak as a cost center rather than a profit center, and all member hospitals operate with Peak on a capitated basis, putting the system at financial risk for population health rather than volume. The design has cut administrative friction, including denials and prior authorizations, and the system is consolidating care navigator roles across plan and hospital sides. Peak plans to add a dual special needs plan next year and expand into the ACA marketplace, while leadership stresses population-health strategies must be tailored locally rather than applied uniformly.