Health First Health Plans is expanding its coverage into five counties in Florida, including the Orlando area, according to an Oct. 24 report from Florida Today.
Starting Jan. 1, patients in the Lake, Orange, Osceola, Pasco and Polk counties of Florida will have access to Health First's coverage.
Health First currently has 60,000 members in seven counties and anticipates adding 9,900 in the first year of its expansion.
Health First will offer individual plans on the marketplace but not its Medicare Advantage plan option in the five new counties, according to the report.
As part of the expansion, the payer plans to add 30 to 50 staff members to its 493-person team. In all, Health First has 9,500 employees.
Plan members in the five counties will have access to Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth's network of healthcare providers and hospitals. Advent owns a 27% stake in Health First's parent company. It acquired the stake as part of a $350 million deal in January 2020.
Health First is considering expanding to additional Florida counties in 2025 and offering commercial health insurance in 2027.