Zing Health, a Chicago-based company that launched by offering Medicare Advantage HMO plans to underserved seniors in Cook County, is gearing up to expand nationally with an acquisition of a competitor.
The company this week said it plans to acquire Pennsylvania-based Lasso Healthcare Insurance Co., a move that will allow Zing Health to expand into 32 additional states. Zing Health has signed definitive documents to acquire Lasso and the deal is expected to finalize in the third quarter of this year pending regulatory approval.
Lasso currently offers Medicare Advantage plans in 34 states and the District of Columbia, and covers more than 6,000 members.
Founded in 2019 by Eric Whitaker and Ken Alleyne, and launched out of the innovation lab at the American Medical Association, Zing Health aims to provide a health insurance option to minority people 65 and over that are typically underserved by traditional insurance models.
The plan is available to those eligible for Medicare, covers most Medicare services and provides members with coverage for services that aren’t covered by traditional Medicare, like vision, hearing and dental. Using a tech-forward approach, Zing Health keeps data on each patient’s conditions, communicates with them, and provides them with preventive services aimed at keeping patients out of emergency rooms, visits that can be extremely expensive.
Acquiring Lasso also helps Zing Health better serve Medicare-eligible seniors in rural areas, who have been underserved by traditional providers.
"Zing Health was founded with the idea that incumbent Medicare Advantage insurers have neglected certain segments of the senior population. Similarly, Lasso Healthcare has developed MA products that benefit underserved rural populations," Whitaker said in a statement. "Lasso's rural focus is a perfect complement to Zing's focus on diverse populations in urban communities."
Last year, Zing Health landed an investment of up to $150 million from New York-based Newlight Partners. It is unclear how much of that commitment has been paid to Zing Health to date. Whitaker did not respond to a request for comment as of publishing time.
Whitaker, who is an internal medicine physician by training that completed his residency in San Francisco, spent most of his career working in health care in Chicago. He worked for Cook County’s health system, and later opened an HIV clinic that primarily served Black residents in Woodlawn. Whitaker also previously served as the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health and founded health care investment firm TWG Partners.
Zing Health is Whitaker’s third insurance company. The second company, Symphonix Health, was a Medicare prescription drug plan that sold to UnitedHealth Group in 2016.
