by Tina Reed
Jan 10, 2019 8:47am
A common theme among insurers speaking at the J.P. Morgan
Healthcare Conference this week: the boost from Medicare Advantage. Executives
from several companies pointed to the program in their highlights as they
discussed their upcoming year at the conference.
Humana officials said they have been beating Wall Street
expectations over the past several quarters in part because of their MA
business.
“[2019] is shaping up to be a very, very strong year,” said
Chief Financial Officer Brian Kane. “We have revised upward our MA enrollment
guidance. We expect individual MA growth this year to be 375,000 to 400,000
members. That’s a 12-13% growth rate. While we don’t have the CMS tape, which
tells us how we did relative to the marketplace, our sense is that we’ll pick
up meaningful share this year.”
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As part of its government line of business, Cigna’s CEO David
Cordani said Cigna focuses on the individual MA business but sees the group MA
business as well as “a future growth opportunity for us.”
Medicare Advantage enrollment and spending are expected
to surge over the next decade, until more than 4 in 10 beneficiaries are
in the program by 2028, according to a recent report in the New England
Journal of Medicine. The MA enrollment rate is set to grow from 34% in 2018 to
42% over the next 10 years.
Beneficiaries have grown fond of MA plans due to their strong
financial protections and the extra benefits they provide, such as dental care
and gym memberships. Insurers UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Anthem have reported huge windfalls from the government
program that is administered by private plans.
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