Mark Farrah Associates Finds First Quarter 2012 Results Mixed for Top Health Plans
Mark Farrah AssociatesDebra Donahue, 207-985-8484
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) found most of the nation’s leading health plans saw enrollment gains in the first quarter of 2012. There was however, a slight downturn in profitability results year-over-year. The primary 2012 open enrollment season resulted in gains for both fully-insured business and the administrative services only (ASO) segment. As Commercial business continues to shift towards ASO more plans are seeking opportunities in Medicare and Medicaid which may be impacting profitability. MFA analyzed market share and performance of these companies as well as other leading health plans in the U.S. in a recent Healthcare Business Strategy release.
MFA found aggregate medical membership for the seven leading plans increased by 3.5 million (2.8%), from 127.3 million as of March 2011 to 130.8 million as of March 2012. Commercial, Senior and Medicaid segments all saw enrollment growth year-over-year. Business in the commercial segment increased by 1.4% from 1Q11 to 1Q12, all commercial growth came from the ASO segment. Senior (also referred to as Medicare) and Medicaid enrollment increased 16.6% and 3.8% respectively during the same period. The majority of leading health plans saw modest downturns in year-over-year profitability for 1Q12, when compared to 1Q11. The top plans mentioned in MFA’s latest Healthcare Business Strategy report insure or administer coverage for approximately 42% of people in the United States, and their financial well-being is a key indicator of the industry’s stability.
In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, MFA reviewed enrollment and financial trends for Aetna, CIGNA, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), Humana, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint. Membership data, financial statistics and observations were gleaned from the July 2012 Health Insurer Insights™ series, a Mark Farrah Associates publication. To read the full text of "First Quarter 2012 Results Mixed for Leading Health Plans," visit the Analysis Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website .
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
MFA is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Committed to simplifying analysis of health insurance business, our products include Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Health Insurer Insights™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™ and Health Plans USA™.