Watertown, Mass. — Included Health has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Firefly Health, combining the companies’ virtual care, primary care and health plan capabilities.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory review. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Included Health said the acquisition would add Firefly Health’s clinically integrated health plan model, nationwide care network and advanced primary care capabilities to its existing healthcare platform.
Firefly Health reported that its model produced total cost-of-care savings of more than 15% in 2025 compared with a risk-adjusted market benchmark. The company also reported member satisfaction of 90%.
“We’ve spent years shoulder to shoulder with employers and their members, and we’ve heard the same frustration again and again — the system isn’t built around what people actually need,” said Owen Tripp, co-founder and CEO of Included Health.
“That’s why Included Health and Firefly share the core belief that investing in primary care and navigating people to quality is what actually lowers unnecessary costs — not narrowing networks or shifting costs to members,” he added.
Included Health said the combined company would offer employers an integrated alternative to traditional health plans by connecting plan design and administration with primary care, behavioral health, specialty care and complex case management.
Firefly Health operates an NCQA-accredited advanced primary care model and a network of more than 2,300 in-person, in-home and specialty care partners.
The company said every customer in its Administrative Services Only business reported savings in 2025, with one customer achieving savings of more than 17%.
“If you want different results, you need a different model,” said Fay Rotenberg, CEO of Firefly Health. “Firefly flips the traditional model on its head. We’ve built a true health plan alternative where advanced primary care, data-driven navigation, and dynamic plan design work in harmony.”
“Our plan architecture aligns incentives so that the highest-quality care is always the most affordable choice — and when you do that, the clinical and financial results naturally follow,” she added.
Included Health provides primary care, behavioral health, specialty care and care-navigation services through a national clinical team and technology platform.
The company said the acquisition would allow it to offer Firefly Health’s health plan model to employers on a broader national scale.
“Nearly 41% of employers are actively considering alternative plan design,” Tripp said. “The challenge has never been about interest in alternative models — it’s been finding a partner with the clinical credibility, the proven results, and the end-to-end model to make it work.”
“We’re not asking employers to take a bet on a new approach. We’re offering them a path that’s already working,” he added.
