North Bay Business Journal

In its first month since getting state approval for expansion last fall, Sacramento-based HMO Western Health Advantage said it has enrolled some 750 persons into new employer health plans across Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.

Sutter Health, which operates a number of North Bay hospitals and other care services, has filed plans with the state to launch its own health maintenance organization by 2014 and aims to offer a commercial health plan to employer groups.

Western Health Advantage has filed for an expansion of its business into Marin and Sonoma counties, where it hopes to partner with the Marin-Sonoma IPA and much of the region’s hospitals in offering a new health plan for employers and individuals

SONOMA COUNTY — Members of a regional effort to create a strong network of physicians across the North Bay are in early talks with a Sacramento-based health maintenance organization about forming an insurance product around the nearly 500-member physician network, with the possible goal of offering a commercial health plan to employers.

When the health-savings-account-based, “consumer-driven” insurance concept was introduced about 10 years ago, it puzzled many and enrolled few, but brokers say with the deepening recession and persistent health benefit cost increases the plans are gaining traction.