Kaiser Permanente unveiled plans to acquire Geisinger Health and make it the first member of a new value-based nonprofit health organization called Risant Health, if the deal gains regulatory approval.

Kaiser Permanente’s health insurance products cover more than 11 million people in eight states and the District of Columbia, according to AIS’s Directory of Health Plans. Combined, Kaiser’s seven regional managed care plans form the largest provider-sponsored insurer, enrolling 28.1% of all provider-sponsored lives. It is the largest insurer in the commercial risk market, with over 9 million members. It also ranks as the fifth-largest Medicare Advantage health plan in the nation.

Geisinger Health operates the ninth-largest insurer in Pennsylvania, Geisinger Health Plan, which currently serves 615,147 members. Under the deal, Geisinger will keep its brand identity and its mission.

As one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S., California-based Kaiser Permanente operates 39 hospitals and 737 medical clinics across eight states and the District of Columbia. In 2022, the organization reported $95.4 billion in operating revenue, a $1.3 billion operating loss and a $4.5 billion net loss. The nonprofit Geisinger Health owns 10 hospital campuses in Pennsylvania, with service areas mainly covering the northeast and central regions of the state. It reported $6.9 billion in operating revenue during 2022 but swallowed a $239 million operating loss and a $842 million net loss.

The Kaiser Permanente-Geisinger deal reflects the rebounding trend in health care merger and acquisition activity post-pandemic. A Kaufman Hall report showed that 2022 logged a total of 53 announced transactions, with a combined revenue of transacted hospitals over $45 billion. Fifteen percent of the announced transactions were a “mega merger,” in which the smaller party has annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, just below 2021’s historic high of 16.3%.

The report also highlighted the trend of cross-market transactions, which connect health systems located in different geographic areas with little or no overlap between markets. In 2022, Advocate Health in the Midwest and Atrium Health in North Carolina closed their mega merger to create a 67-hospital health system. UnityPoint Health in Iowa and Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico just proposed merging last month.

This infographic was reprinted from AIS Health’s weekly publication Health Plan Weekly.