Data from Harvard University Provide New Insights into Managed Care (Medicaid Managed Care: Substantial Shifts In Market Landscape and Acquisitions, 2006-20): Managed Care

2025 AUG 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Cambridge, Massachusetts, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “There has been a significant shift in the composition of the Medicaid managed care market over the course of the past two decades. The market is consolidated among five national firms, and those firms have nearly half of all beneficiaries enrolled in managed care plans.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Harvard University, “State markets are even more consolidated, typically giving Medicaid beneficiaries only a few plan options. This article describes the Medicaid managed care market during the period 2006-20, using enrollment data and a novel data set on acquisitions. Our study found a marked decrease in the number of parent payers (unique firms that own at least one Medicaid managed care plan), despite an increase in total enrollment, as well as a high volume of acquisitions. In fact, approximately one in four plans were involved in at least one acquisition during the study period. National payers are playing an increasingly dominant role in Medicaid managed care, with both the number and the market share of local payers decreasing during the study period.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Future research is needed to understand the consequences of these shifts for the level of competition in this market, state finances, and beneficiary health.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Medicaid Managed Care: Substantial Shifts In Market Landscape and Acquisitions, 2006-20. Health Affairs, 2025;44(7):862-868. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Bohan Li, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01111. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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