WASHINGTON, February 29, 2024 — Access to primary care is rapidly deteriorating across the U.S., and a major consolidation in the healthcare space signals a bet that a new approach can both lower costs and improve patient outcomes.
A New Primary Care Giant Emerges
A merger aims to scale access to advanced primary care models for millions of Americans.
- Premise Health and Crossover Health have agreed to merge, creating a company serving over 400 employers.
- The combined entity will operate nearly 900 wellness centers nationwide.
- The deal reflects a growing trend of employers seeking alternatives to traditional health plans.
- Advanced primary care, integrating primary care, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, is at the core of this new model.
This week, Premise Health and Crossover Health announced an agreement to merge into a single, unified company focused on expanding access to primary care. The newly formed organization will provide onsite, nearsite, and virtual care to more than 400 employers, representing millions of members, and will operate nearly 900 wellness centers throughout the country.
The new company will be led by Premise CEO Stu Clark, who framed the merger as a convergence of two organizations sharing a common belief: that advanced primary care is the key to disrupting the U.S. healthcare system. Both companies define advanced primary care as an integrated approach encompassing primary care, behavioral health, pharmacy services, and care navigation.
“Crossover and Premise have proven that a few things happen when you deploy our advanced primary care models: access goes up, health improves and costs go down. Costs go down for the employer as well as for the family,” Clark stated.
The company will primarily target large, self-insured employers—including Fortune 1000 companies, unions, Native tribes, and government entities—seeking to manage healthcare costs and improve employee health.
Employers are increasingly turning to advanced primary care because traditional health plans are struggling to control costs and improve access to care, Clark explained. “Healthcare is now an earnings-per-share issue for American employers. It’s one of the single biggest cost risks that they have in running their business. It’s impacting their ability to deploy capital, and it’s impacting their competitiveness,” he remarked.
The company will operate on a fixed-fee basis paid directly by employers, moving away from the traditional fee-for-service model. Clark believes that increased utilization of the clinics will lead to better health outcomes, lower costs for employers, and greater value from the fixed fee. This model, he pointed out, prioritizes prevention and engagement over volume-driven billing.
Premise currently generates approximately $1.6 billion in annual revenue, and the combined company is projected to approach $2 billion. While Premise is the larger organization, Crossover brings valuable strategic assets to the table.
Crossover’s near-site clinics complement Premise’s geographic footprint, while Premise’s national scale allows Crossover’s clients to expand into multiple markets. Crossover also offers more advanced digital tools for member engagement, which Premise plans to integrate across its broader client base.
The two companies were previously competitors, but Scott Shreeve, CEO of Crossover, emphasized that the potential to scale their impact outweighs any past rivalry. “How can we be a part of solving healthcare’s triple aim of cost, quality experience? I don’t think we’re going to get there all on our own. I’ve appreciated that Premise feels the same way — we feel an urgency, and we feel we see the opportunity,” Shreeve declared.
The new company intends to expand its advanced primary care model—focused on team-based care and member engagement—nationwide.
The merger is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. As employers continue to seek alternatives to traditional health plans, this merger could serve as a crucial test of whether advanced primary care can deliver substantial savings and improved access on a national scale.
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