MBF Healthcare Partners, LP, a Coral Gables, Florida-based private equity firm, has launched a managed care platform company. MBF will invest $100 million into the portfolio company, Simply Healthcare Plans.

In speaking with MergersUnleashed, Miguel Fernandez, chairman of MBF, said the new managed care platform company will focus on Medicaid services. Fernandez said, “We believe with health care reform where it is right now, it is a good time to get involved.”

In discussing the transaction, Fernandez also commented on several listed companies that have entered the Medicaid space since 1995. He said many of these companies are now looking at Medicare, though he believes Medicaid managed care companies are situated to see significant growth in the coming year. “My thesis is that Medicaid rates should rise, and I expect Medicare rates, which are at an all-time high, should come down,” he said.

In 1985, MBF acquired its first managed care HMO business for $250 million. According to Fernandez, 80% of the funds invested was his own capital. The company was later sold to Ramsay in 1990, said Fernandez.

MBF raised a $250 million fund in 2005. In 2002, MBF exited its previous Medicaid HMO company, selling the portfolio company, Physician’s Health Care Plans, to Amerigroup Community Care. Following the sale, MBF was bound by a non-compete agreement. The non-compete agreement expired in 2007.

The firm currently manages four other healthcare-related portfolio companies, including Medical Specialties Distributors, LLC, a home infusion therapy distributor; OMNI Home Health Services, LLC, a home health care services provider; Navarro Discount Pharmacies, a pharmacy franchise; and NutriForce Nutrition, LLC, a nutritional supplement company.

In discussing the transaction, Fernandez said he envisions Simply Healthcare Plans to function as a platform for roll-up transactions of Medicaid HMO companies. He commented, “We will be highly acquisitive, and we expect that we will look at target companies in 2010 and 2011.”

Fernandez said he typically invests 80 percent of his own capital in each transaction. MBF Healthcare Partners now manages about $250 million in assets.