here to dissect this is kqed's health editor, lisa alafaris. >> hey. >> tell us which bay area hospitalng the biggest consolidating, and why are they doing this? >> we see john buren, walnut creek aligning with ucsf. stanford has reached across the bay to pleasanton and valley care. and sutter is taking its physicians groups, the palo alto medical foundation is the most well known and consolidating those as well. >> when consolidating, what's the effect? are -- are they trying to play the role of health insurance company? >> in some cases, yes. what they say is they want to deliver to you better care at a lower cost. ucsf is playing a role as a health insurer. they're starting with the university of california. it's -- workers sign up with us, we'll take full risk. they're say figure we keep our patients healthy, the savings that we get from keeping them healthy go to the health plan. in this case, they're say figure we can keep them healthy, we can save money. we can pass that along to employers and perhaps ultimate ly employees, as well. >> they are the health plan. whatever savings c