Elevance Health has inked a deal with Verily to acquire its stop-loss insurance unit, Granular Insurance Company, a spokesperson for Elevance confirmed to Fierce Healthcare.
Further details about the deal have not been released, and financial terms were not disclosed. The spokesperson said that Granular, which launched in 2020, deploys "innovative, proprietary technology" for its stop-loss, reinsurance and fronting services.
Granular serves self-funded employers and captives, according to the Elevance spokesperson. Stop-loss, or excess, insurance is designed to protect insurers from extremely high or unexpected expenses.
Given the ongoing rise in medical costs and the introduction of ultra-high-cost therapies and treatments, employers are likely to be weighing options like stop-loss to stem the bleeding.
For insurers, ongoing pressures on Medicare and Medicaid could spur an even greater focus on the commercial market. Elevance Health specifically boasts 24.3 million members across its employer plan products.
Elevance has also made multiple deals of late, closing its acquisition of IU Health Plans last month and announcing in October plans to scoop up value-based care company CareBridge.