Leading health insurer is drastically lowering its Medicare Advantage enrollment estimates for 2022 due to a large number of cancellations during the last enrollment period, revealing in a new submission to the Medicare Advantage Stock Market and the old projection of 325,000 to 375,000 new MA members has been reduced from 150,000 to 200,000 new members.
Humana also expects MA membership to be generally flat this year, as she does not anticipate gaining or losing large accounts.
According to Bloomberg, the news brought down Humana’s shares on Thursday and dragged down the shares of rivals. Shares of Humana fell 21% as of noon, while shares of UnitedHealth Group fell about 5.4%. Clover Health Investments and Oak Street Health, the newest Medicare-focused companies, saw shares fall 8.4% and 7.6%, respectively, from the news.
At a Goldman Sachs conference on Thursday, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard said that the aggressive prices of market rivals, which are likely to be unsustainable, played a major role in the new projections, which will make the company focuses more on the profitability of the whole business than on individual margins. Medicare business.
Meanwhile, for the Humana Premier Rx (PDP) plan, Humana now estimates a net membership drop of 125,000 members in 2022, compared to previous estimates of a loss of “a few hundred thousand members,” citing better sales than expected. Walmart value plan and lower-than-expected terminations.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT?
The Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers said that by 2022, MA is expected to reach 29.5 million people, compared to 26.9 million enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan in 2021.
For many seniors, MA is the preferred health insurance because of its low initial monthly costs and additional benefits. Medicare Advantage plans will continue to offer a wide range of additional benefits in 2022, such as glasses, hearing aids, both preventive and comprehensive dental benefits, access to meals (for a limited time), over-the-counter items, fitness benefits and worldwide . emergency coverage.
In addition, the percentage of plans that offer special supplementary benefits for people with chronic illnesses will increase from 19% to 25%.
THE GREATEST TREND
Insurers are expanding their Medicare Advantage offerings at a decent rate, and Humana announced last fall that it would launch a new Medicare Advantage Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan in 37 rural counties in North Carolina in response to market demand in the eastern part of the state. .
At the same time, UnitedHealthcare, which already has significant market control with its MA plans, said it will strengthen its deployment in the space by expanding its MA plans by 2022, adding a potential of 3.1 million members and reaching 94% of Medicare-eligible consumers. in the US
For the third year in a row, health insurance company Cigna is expanding its Medicare Advantage plans, growing in 108 new counties and three new states: Connecticut, Oregon and Washington, which will increase its geographic presence by nearly 30%.
Centene also participated in the event, expanding MA to 327 new counties and three new states: Massachusetts, Nebraska and Oklahoma. This represents a 26% expansion of Centene’s MA footprint, with supply available to 48 million potential beneficiaries in 36 states.
CMS said in late September that the average premium for Medicare Advantage plans will be lower in 2022 at $ 19 a month, compared to $ 21.22 in 2021. However, Part D coverage increases to $ 33 per month. month, compared to $ 31.47 in 2021.
MA enrollment continues to rise, CMS said. By 2022, it is projected to reach 29.5 million people, compared to 26.9 million enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan in 2021.
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