Mark Farrah Associates Reports on Mid-Year 2017 Medicaid Market Insights and Competition

Business Wire

MCMURRAY, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), www.markfarrah.com assessed second quarter Medicaid market trends with insights about health plan competition in the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report. According to Kaiser Family Foundation’s State Facts Total Monthly Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), total Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment was 74.3 million as of June 2017. This represents approximately 17.5 million more covered lives, a 31% increase, when compared to the population of Medicaid recipients prior to Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation.

Although the ACA significantly reduced the number of uninsured Americans by providing coverage options through Medicaid, and expansion programs have driven membership growth, the future of Medicaid in the U.S. constantly remains an unsettled debate amongst policy makers. Proposed policy changes under the Trump administration have generated a great deal of unpredictability for state Medicaid programs including eligibility changes and significant budget cuts. In addition, as states deal with financial constraints and political uncertainties, more and more are increasingly relying on Medicaid Managed care programs as a means to control costs and to improve access to quality health care for the Medicaid population.

As of second quarter 2017, total Medicaid managed care membership reported through NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) and CA DMHC (California Department of Managed Health Care) statutory filings was 48.6 million. Total year-over-year managed Medicaid grew by only 187,000 members, a substantial difference from the 3.6 million increase between 2Q15 and 2Q16. Most of the top five managed care companies– Centene, Anthem, UnitedHealth, Molina and Wellcare – did however, experience enrollment increases. Among the leaders, Centene commanded 12% of the Medicaid market share as of second quarter 2016, enrolling approximately 6 million members. Anthem and UnitedHealth increased year-over-year membership with both attaining 11% market share. Molina and WellCare rounded out the top five Medicaid managed care leaders accounting for 7 and 5 percent market share, respectively. These top five Medicaid companies control 45% of the overall Medicaid Managed Care market. Note, Medicaid members enrolled by companies or through funding arrangements are not included in statutory financial data used for this assessment.

To read the full text of "Mid-Year 2017 Medicaid Market and Enrollment Trends", visit the Analysis Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website www.markfarrah.com.

About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)

Mark Farrah Associates is a leading business information provider in the health insurance sector. We provide health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry and our products include Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, Health Plans USA™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™ and SHCE & MLR Annual Data™. To learn more about our products, access the product brochures and preview videos in the Products section of our website at www.markfarrah.com.