SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sutter Health Plan, doing business as Sutter Health Plus, announced its latest milestone. As of Jan. 1, 2024, the health plan is celebrating a decade of serving Northern California — 10 years of offering the community affordable access to Sutter’s highly respected network of physicians, clinicians, hospitals and care centers.
The launch of Sutter Health Plus in 2014 marked an important step in Sutter Health’s efforts to transform healthcare, developing a forward-thinking strategy and believing in the value it would bring to our communities.
Brokers, employers and members soon recognized the health plan was committed to delivering affordable access to high-quality care and exceptional service. In fact, nearly 98% of large employer groups renew with Sutter Health Plus, demonstrating that the plan meets the needs of their budgets and workforce.
“Working with Sutter Health Plus since its inception, I’ve witnessed members of their team show a passion for serving their members,” shared Mario Gosalvez, managing director at Acrisure, a national health insurance brokerage firm. “Seeing the plan’s growth over the years with a commitment to fostering strong relationships with partners and employer groups is a big differentiator in the industry.”
The health plan’s humble beginnings started with serving 4,000 members in eight counties in the greater Sacramento area and Central Valley. Sutter Health Plus expanded to Sonoma County in March 2015 and later to Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in September 2015. This helped propel its growth — by December 2016, the plan was serving 50,000 members. By October 2019, the plan served 90,000 members and in January 2021 enrolled its 100,000th member.
This timeline shows the consistent growth and expansion of the Sutter Health Plan over the first 10 years. It now serves 114,000 Northern Californians.
“Sutter Health Plus is fundamentally different than most other health plans. Our model drives collaboration between the health plan and care delivery system to improve health outcomes and lower the total cost of care,” shared Phil Jackson, Sutter Health Plus CEO. “By harnessing the strength of a fully integrated system and relentlessly focusing on our customers, we’re creating value that’s unmatched in the marketplace.”
In addition to remarkable membership growth, the health plan also achieved National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation in August 2019 — the gold standard of quality for health plans. Sutter Health Plus was recently awarded the high rating of 4 out of 5 stars for Quality and Service for the Health Plan Rating Year 2023. Of the 11 accredited commercial HMO and HMO/POS plans in California, Sutter Health Plus ranked second in Northern California for NCQA 2023 Health Plan Ratings.
Sutter Health Plus is especially proud of the enormous effort on the part of their staff in assisting members in navigating the ever-changing landscape of their coverage, cost and access to care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, Sutter Health Plus serves 114,000 Northern Californians and remains the fastest-growing health plan on a percentage basis (second fastest by volume) in its Northern California footprint.
As of Jan. 1, 2024, the Sutter Health Plus network includes 29 hospitals and campuses, more than 1,500 primary care physicians, 7,200 specialists, hundreds of conveniently located facilities and dozens of urgent care centers.
For information on Sutter Health Plus or to find out how to add the plan to your employee health benefit offerings, please contact your broker or call Account Services weekdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 855-315-5800.
