Busy Week For Insurance Companies Highlights Evolving Landscape For The Industry
UnitedHealth is pulling out of all but a few Obamacare markets, Cigna is heading in the opposite direction with plans to expand, and Anthem is pursing a collaborative approach to working with hospitals. The changes show a fluid marketplace as companies race to find the best way to cut costs and improve care.
Marketplace:
Watching The New Health Insurance Market Unfold In Real Time
It’s been a busy week for health insurers. First, UnitedHealth announced plans to pull out of most Obamacare exchanges. Cigna talked about taking a completely different tack, by expanding in those same exchanges. And we’ve learned that Anthem is teaming up with 15 hospitals in Wisconsin to form a new insurance company. (Gorenstein, 4/20)
Fortune:
UnitedHealth Hasn't Given Up On Obamacare Altogether
UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s biggest health insurer, recently said it will drop out of the Obamacare individual insurance market in all but “a handful of states,” raising concerns that other insurers could follow. ... But that doesn’t mean UnitedHealth UNH 2.63% is ditching the individual exchange market altogether—and it’s not a sure signal that other large insurers will also ditch their Obamacare plans anytime soon. “This is one company that never made a serious play for this market from the get-go, and it may not really be abandoning it,” said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. (Lorenzetti, 4/20)
Modern Healthcare:
Anthem Hatches Another Hospital Joint Venture, This Time In Wisconsin
Roughly 18 months after Anthem rocked the healthcare business community with a new provider-insurance alliance in California, the health insurer has formulated another similar project. Anthem and Aurora Health Care will co-own a new health insurance company. (Herman, 4/20)
Morning Consult:
AHIP Head Warns That ACA Premium Increases Are Coming
Marilyn Tavenner, a premier spokeswoman for insurers, is concerned about 2017 health care premiums. As president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Programs, she says the culmination of market shifts that insurers have faced over several years will cause a stark rise in health insurance rates on Obamacare exchanges. “I’ve been asked, what are the premiums going to look like? I don’t know, because it also varies by state, market, even within markets. But I think the overall trend is going to be higher than we saw previous years. That’s my big prediction,” she said in a recent interview with Morning Consult. (Owens, 4/20)
Meanwhile, new research adds to growing evidence that federal programs are having a profound impact on health care for children —
The Fiscal Times:
19 Years And Counting, Children’s Health Insurance Is A Big Winner
Evidence continues to pile up that federal health care programs are working to reduce dramatically the number of uninsured Americans -- especially children and low-income families. (Pianin, 4/20)