Darwin's Our Take: Humana’s CenterWell acquires Florida-based primary care provider MaxHealth

CenterWell, the health care services division of Humana, completed its acquisition of MaxHealth, a Tampa, Fla.-based primary care organization that provides care to more than 120,000 patients, according to the announcement.

Before the acquisition, private equity investment firm Arsenal Capital Partners and MaxHealth’s founder-shareholders owned the network of primary care and specialty care clinics. Moving forward, MaxHealth will operate as part of CenterWell Senior Primary Care.

“As part of the CenterWell organization, MaxHealth is positioned for continued growth and scaling of its platform,” said Martin Coulter, MaxHealth’s chairman, who is also an operating partner at Arsenal Capital. “We are delighted to have supported the company and its management team through this chapter and are grateful to the Humana and CenterWell leadership teams for their collaboration and partnership as MaxHealth begins the next leg of its journey.”

MaxHealth’s network includes 58 owned clinics and 24 affiliated clinics throughout the western and southern regions of Florida. The acquisition expands CenterWell’s presence into new markets.

MaxHealth has more than 100 primary care providers and over 30 specialists. Approximately two-thirds of the patients MaxHealth serves are in value-based care programs.

Although financial terms were not disclosed, Becker’s Hospital Review reported that Bloomberg sources said ahead of the deal that MaxHealth could have been valued at approximately $1 billion.    

OUR TAKE: Last year, CenterWell Senior Primary Care added more than 100,000 patients to the total number of patients it serves, representing growth of more than 25%. According to Humana’s earnings report, nearly one-third of those new patients came through CenterWell’s acquisition of The Villages Health, which serves The Villages, an enormous retirement community in central Florida.

The Villages Health, which consists of eight primary care centers and two specialty care centers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July. At the time, The Villages Health owed the federal government an estimated $360 million, largely stemming from Medicare billing practices.

In connection with the bankruptcy proceedings, CenterWell Senior Primary Care entered into a “stalking horse” purchase agreement to acquire The Villages Health’s assets for $50 million. When an affiliate of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries made a subsequent bid through the auction process, CenterWell increased its offer to $68 million in cash and agreed to pay as much as $1 million for cure costs, plus assumed liabilities, a local news outlet reported.  

UnitedHealth challenged the pending sale of The Villages Health to CenterWell. The Villages-News.com reported that UnitedHealth had a “lucrative” arrangement to market Medicare Advantage plans to patients of The Villages Health. In the end, CenterWell’s bid was successful.

As of the end of 2025, CenterWell operated 350 locations across 15 states, Healthcare Dive reported, citing a Humana spokesperson as its source. The unit earned $22.5 billion in 2025, up from $19.9 billion the year before.

Along with the growth in CenterWell’s patient base last year, Humana also grew its Medicare Advantage membership by 20% during the recent enrollment period, reflecting an increase of more than 1 million members.

Health Care Rounds #200: Dr. Jonathan Stallkamp, Chief Medical Officer, Main Line Health

Physician leadership can make or break a health system. What does it really take to earn doctors’ trust and move an organization forward? Dr. Jonathan Stallkamp, Chief Medical Officer of Main Line Health, joins host John Marchica to discuss building physician engagement, developing future clinical leaders, and strengthening culture inside a complex health system. Watch the episode here or listen on your favorite podcast platform.

What else you need to know

The FDA has agreed to review Moderna’s flu vaccine application, after refusing to do so earlier this month. Moderna requested a Type A meeting with the FDA after receiving a refusal-to-file (RTF) letter from the agency. The meeting took place on Tuesday, and the next day Moderna said in a press release that the FDA agreed to proceed with a review of the investigational mRNA-based vaccine based on a revised regulatory strategy. Moderna is now seeking a traditional approval for adults ages 50 to 64 and an accelerated approval for those ages 65 and older. If the vaccine is approved, the company will conduct a post-marketing study in the older age group.

In a note to investors, Tyler Van Buren, an analyst with TD Cowen, pointed out the “remarkably short turnaround for a Type A meeting,” saying he thought the FDA needed to “quickly find an acceptable solution” to the backlash that arose when Moderna went public with the RTF notification, Healthcare Dive reported. It usually takes 30 to 60 days for a Type A meeting to occur.

The FDA set Aug. 5 as the anticipated decision date. If the vaccine gets the green light, Moderna plans to make it available for the 2026-27 flu season. The outcome will likely determine how Moderna proceeds with its combination flu/COVID-19 mRNA vaccine candidate.

Centene’s Magellan Health will be acquired by Madison Health Group, a private investment group, according to a LinkedIn post by Magellan Health. According to Becker’s Payer Issues, Magellan Health’s CEO, Dr. Caroline Carney, will continue to lead the Frisco, Texas-based company, which will operate as an independent managed behavioral health company after the acquisition has been completed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Financial details were not disclosed.

Centene acquired Magellan Health for $2.2 billion in January 2022. It then divested Magellan Rx to Prime Therapeutics in December 2022 in a deal valued at $1.35 billion, and sold Magellan Specialty Health to Evolent Health for approximately $660 million in cash and stock in January 2023. Centene noted in its recent 2025 earnings report that it signed a definitive agreement with an undisclosed buyer in December to divest the remaining Magellan Health businesses.

A group of more than 20 health systems launched the National Specialty Care Access Coalition (NSCAC) to expand access to medical specialists, particularly in rural communities and underserved urban areas. In addition to founding health systems such as Adventist Health, ChristianaCare, Dartmouth Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Intermountain Health, the new collaboration includes clinicians, technology partners and policy leaders, according to the announcement. The coalition noted that while nearly 20% of Americans live in rural areas, just approximately 9% of physicians practice in these communities.

Initially, the coalition will focus on three priorities: standardizing multispecialty care pathways “designed for the operational realities of rural hospitals and high-need urban health systems”; advancing policy reform by producing a white paper with unified recommendations for CMS and state Medicaid agencies; and accelerating implementation through shared knowledge and collaborative efforts to launch pilots in high-impact specialties. Additional information is available on the NSCAC website.

Mayo Clinic will collaborate with Merck on a drug discovery and development initiative supported by artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and multimodal clinical data, which includes lab results, medical imaging, clinical notes, and molecular data. Under their agreement, Merck will leverage Mayo Clinic Platform to integrate Mayo Clinic’s clinical insights and genomic data sets with the drugmaker’s AI-enabled virtual cell technologies. Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, Mayo Clinic’s CEO, said in a news release, “By combining Mayo Clinic Platform’s de-identified data, clinical expertise, and Platform technology with Merck’s world-class research and development capabilities, we are poised to speed innovative breakthroughs to patients and redefine drug development.” The partnership’s initial focus will be on the development of more effective and tailored therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, atopic dermatitis, and multiple sclerosis.

Optum officially introduced a new AI-powered tool called Value Connect that is designed to accelerate the adoption of value-based care. Value Connect combines clinical, operational, and financial capabilities into a single platform to help payers and providers learn more about the populations they serve, prioritize intervention strategies, and take steps to improve patients’ health while reducing the total cost of care, Optum said in a press release. Early adopters of Value Connect have seen, on average, a 29% reduction in emergency department visits and a 28% reduction in preventable readmissions, according to Optum, along with a 35% decrease in medical spending and a 17% decrease in pharmacy costs.

What we’re reading

The US Health Spending Problem Is Still About Prices. Health Affairs, 2.18.26

Blood test holds promise for predicting when Alzheimer’s symptoms will start. Nature, 2.19.26

From Promise to Practice: The Next Era of AI in Health Care. NEJM Catalyst, 2.18.26 (overview article accessible without subscription)

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