From Six Companies to a Healthcare Movement

By Gary Bolnick 

Co-Founder & CEO 

Managed Care Resource Alliance 

On May 6, 2021, six companies gathered for what we called a "monthly meeting." There was no polished agenda, no established playbook. There was a shared frustration and belief that the managed care community deserved something better than the isolation and opacity they had been navigating alone. 

That was five years ago. And looking back, I find myself both humbled and energized by how far we have traveled together.

MCRA was born from a conviction that is easy to state and hard to act on: that vendors who compete in different lanes can be more powerful together than apart. The idea was to create a genuine "safe space," with one Member per specialty, non-disclosure agreements protecting intellectual property, and a culture that rewards candor. Not a trade association. Not a networking group. Something new. 

We had no guarantee it would work. We just knew the industry needed it. 

Five years later, MCRA is a thriving ecosystem of Member organizations. We are supported by recognized industry leaders serving as Strategic Advisors, with a growing presence across conferences, publications, and health plan relationships. What started with six companies around a virtual table has become a community that routinely shapes how managed care vendors think, collaborate, and grow. 

But what I am most proud of is not the growth in numbers. It is the quality of what happens within this organization, month after month, year after year. 

"What has surprised me most about MCRA is that the relationships became real. We are not just exchanging business cards at a conference. MCRA has become a name in this industry space, and I am genuinely proud to be part of it."   — Laura Massetti, Command Direct 

From the beginning, our operating principle was that collaboration cannot be manufactured. It has to be earned through trust and sustained through genuine mutual benefit. The result has been something rare in this industry: a community where people actually tell each other the truth, share what is working, and show up for one another in ways that go well beyond the meeting room. 

The managed care landscape has only grown more complex over these five years. Medicaid and the broader managed care environment sit at the center of that complexity. It's shaped by unwinding, eligibility challenges, evolving regulatory requirements, and intensifying pressure on health plans to demonstrate outcomes that truly matter for their members. These are not passing challenges. They are the new terrain. And they are exactly why MCRA exists. 

Looking ahead, our focus is simple but intentional: delivering real value. Not growth for its own sake, not activity for the sake of appearances, but a deliberate commitment to ensuring that every MCRA Member, every health plan partner, and every interaction with this community produces something meaningful and lasting. 

To every Member who has trusted MCRA with their time, their ideas, and their relationships, thank you. To our Strategic Advisors, our industry partners, and the health plan leaders who have engaged with us, we are grateful. 

And to the six companies who showed up on May 6, 2021, not quite sure what they were joining: you started something worth celebrating. 

Here is to the next five years—and to a community that is only just getting started!