Mark Farrah Associates Reports on the Latest Insights about the Medicaid Market

Managed Care Weekly Digest

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), www.markfarrah.com, assessed the latest Medicaid market trends with insights about health plan competition and the continuing impact of Medicaid expansion. Medicaid is the largest health insurance program in the U.S. in terms of enrollment, covering over 74 million Americans, a 32% membership increase between 2013 and 2016 according to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) reports. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was intended to help reduce the number of uninsured Americans by providing coverage options through Medicaid and the Marketplaces. Medicaid trends confirm that expansion programs have been successful from the standpoint of membership growth with the addition of approximately 18 million members to the Medicaid rosters, however, many states have expressed concerns about the cost of sustaining Medicaid expansion (see also Mark Farrah Associates).

Approximately 77% of membership growth took place in the 32 states, including D.C., that have expanded Medicaid since 2013, with about one third of this increase attributed to California. While federal funding covered 100% of expansion costs through 2016, the cost of Medicaid expansion was 49% higher per person in 2015 than anticipated, according to HHS reports. Many states have proposed alternate program options to protect and sustain Medicaid. Policy decisions under the Trump administration will ultimately determine levels of federal financing as well as federal and state Medicaid requirements.

As of September 2016, total Medicaid managed care membership reported through National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and California Department of Managed Health Care (CA DMHC) statutory filings was over 49 million. Year-over-year market share among the leading Medicaid managed care companies has remained relatively consistent, as the segment grew by almost 3 million members between 3Q15 and 3Q16. Among the top five leaders, Anthem commanded 10% of the Medicaid market share as of third quarter 2016, enrolling approximately 5.1 million members. UnitedHealth and Centene have also increased membership with both attaining 9% market share. Molina and WellCare rounded out the top five Medicaid managed care leaders accounting for 7 and 4 percent market share, respectively. These top five Medicaid companies control 40% 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 "Medicaid Market Update", visit the Analysis Briefs library on Mark Farrah Associates' website www.markfarrah.com. About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) MFA is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Committed to simplifying analysis of health insurance business, our products include Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, and Health Plans USA™. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170119005698/en/

Keywords for this news article include: Medicaid, Medicare, Managed Care, Health Policy, Health Insurance, Mark Farrah Associates.