Care Deferrals Pose Headwinds For MA Risk Adjustment in ’21

Although many publicly traded insurers touted enrollment growth from the 2021 Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) when reporting fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings, some expressed the concern that care deferrals seen last year may have a negative impact on Medicare Advantage risk adjustment payments this year.

Humana Inc. on Feb. 3 posted a loss of $2.30 per share on an adjusted basis, which was driven by three main factors: (1) higher treatment and testing costs related to COVID-19 that were more than offset by a decline in non-COVID utilization, (2) ongoing pandemic relief efforts, and (3) increased expenses associated with the AEP. Humana ended the year with approximately 4.6 million total MA members, reflecting year-over-year growth of 11%, driving consolidated revenue growth of 90% in 2020. The company expects to gain between 425,000 and 475,000 individual MA members this year, for growth of 11% to 12%.

© 2023 MMIT
Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren Flynn Kelly Managing Editor, Radar on Medicare Advantage

Lauren has been covering health business issues, including drug benefits and specialty pharmacy, for more than a decade. She served as editor of Drug Benefit News (the predecessor to Radar on Drug Benefits) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016, and now manages Radar on Medicare Advantage. Lauren graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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