The extras in Medicare Advantage plans are starting to draw Wall Street’s attention.
During a conference call with financial analysts on Wednesday, Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Elevance Health, the former Anthem, discussed the appeal of extra benefits in an era of rising inflation.
The average monthly premium for the 75% of plans Elevance is promoting for 2023 is $0. Many provide benefits like transportation, dentistry, vision, and in-home assistance.
Additionally, some of the “free” plans offer prepaid cards that participants can use to make grocery purchases.
“With widespread pressure on the cost of daily living, affordability and value are more important for seniors than ever,” Boudreaux said.
To discuss the third-quarter results with securities analysts, Elevance arranged a conference call. A new quarter began on July 1.
What it Means
Medicare Advantage programme health outcomes incentives may be providing health insurers with a financial incentive to make sure that subscribers have a high standard of living because a variety of social factors might affect health outcomes.
You want your consumers to be adequately insured and saved up.
Elevance wants them to stock their kitchens with seasonal fresh food.
The Market
Through a variety of commercial health insurance plans and government health care programs, Elevance, an Indianapolis-based corporation, offers or manages health coverage for 47 million people.
The 64 million people who are eligible for Medicare have the option to purchase coverage from private insurers thanks to Medicare Advantage. Medicare programme funds as well as enrollee premium payments are included in the plan’s revenue.
Due to the fact that the yearly election process for Medicare Advantage plans for 2023 began on Saturday and runs until December 7, the program is receiving a lot of attention right now.
The market for Medicare Advantage plans was a difficult one for Elevance to enter. Approximately 2 million Medicare Advantage plan members, or 7% of the 29 million Medicare Advantage plan members, are now enrolled in it.
Executives at UnitedHealth Group, a health insurer with a 24% market share of Medicare Advantage enrollment, stated last week that the business anticipates an 8% growth in programme membership overall in 2023, with UnitedHealth enrollment increasing at a rate that is higher than the programme average.
On October 25, Centene, another significant player in the Medicare market, will report profits that might provide more insight into the Medicare plan market.
The parent company of Aetna, Humana, and Cigna anticipate releasing their third-quarter financial reports on November 2 and November 3, respectively.
The Numbers
Elevance reported a third-quarter net income of $1.6 billion on revenues of $40 billion, an increase over the third-quarter 2021 net income of $1.5 billion on revenues of $36 billion.
Elevance provided or managed health coverage for 47 million people at the end of the quarter, which is 4.9% more people than it did a year earlier.
The following describes the changes in the population covered by particular Elevance health coverage product categories between the third quarter of 2021 and the most recent quarter:
- Individual commercial: 800,000 (up from 769,000)
- Medicare Advantage: 2 million (up from 1.9 million)
- Medicare supplement plans: 945,000 (down from 947,000)
- Self-funded employer plans: 27 million (up from 26 million)
- Fully insured employer plans: 4 million (up from 3.9 million)
There are now 4.8 million life and disability subscribers, up from 4.7 million.
Enrollment in the business’ dental plans climbed by 0.3% to 6.7 million members, and it increased by 6.1% to 1.6 million members for dental plans that Elevance manages rather than insures.
