If being Number Two means you try harder, then that explains the expansion and new product efforts by Medica and Health Partners, the second- and third-place health plans in Minnesota respectively. Both plans have unveiled a raft of new products, both have national partners and have plans to expand into neighboring Wisconsin.
Health Partners has been picked as the preferred vendor for a major union in Minnesota, realizing the first benefits of having been vetted for quality and price by the Labor/Management Health Care Coalition/Upper Midwest. And Minnesota, a progressive state with the lowest level of uninsurance in the continental US, has not been able to agree on a major health care expansion. Several Minnesota counties are seeking to set up their own managed Medicaid programs in order to compete with private MCOs.