News Briefs

✦ UnitedHealthcare will expand its presence on the Affordable Care Act exchanges by offering plans in at least one additional state in 2021. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said on May 12 that the insurer will join two other carriers — CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and Kaiser Permanente — in offering coverage through the state’s individual marketplace. As of 2020, UnitedHealthcare offers exchange plans in parts of Massachusetts, Nevada and New York, but back in 2016 it participated in 34 states, Credit Suisse analyst A.J. Rice pointed out in a May 12 note to investors. In response to a query from AIS Health regarding whether UnitedHealthcare will sell plans in any more state exchanges in 2021, a spokesperson said it is “premature for us to provide any further details.” However, he added that “we intend to offer exchange plans in those states where we can provide an efficient network and competitive product capable of driving sustainable value for consumers and our state and federal partners.” Read Hogan’s press release at https://bit.ly/2T4NstH.

✦ In sharp contrast to the nearly $3.2 billion in net income it reported in the first quarter of 2019, Kaiser Permanente posted a $1.1 billion net loss for the same period in 2020, Modern Healthcare reported. Still, the integrated health system didn’t see a revenue decrease when elective and non-emergency care was put on hold, since its model requires membership fees to be paid at the beginning of each month and California’s stay-at-home order was put into place on March 19. Kaiser’s revenue grew 5.9% in the quarter to $22.6 billion, and its expenses grew by 7.8% to $21.4 billion — a result that executives attributed to an intentional focus on keeping memberships affordable. Read more at https://bit.ly/2xZzim6.

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