Six Things To Know From Deloitte Research on Health Plan Government Business

By Clive Riddle, May 18, 2018 This week, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions’ Andreea Balan-Cohen, Ph.D., and Maulesh Shukla gave a presentation on Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Trends: Deloitte Research in a live HealthcareWebSummit event. The basis for their discussion was Deloitte Center for Health Solutions analysis of financial performance trends in the US fully insured health plans market between 2011 and 2016. This research series was divided into three chapters: Chapter 1, published in December 2017, provided summary observations on overarching developments in the market. Chapter 2, published in March 2018, focused on trends in health plan government programs, specifically Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care. Chapter 3, forthcoming later this month, will focus on trends in the commercial individual and commercial group lines of business. Here’s six key findings they shared on U.S. health plans’ government business: 1.     Government programs accounted for a large and growing share of health plan revenue and underwriting gains. 2.     The Medicare Advantage business experienced significant top-line growth and bottom-line volatility, including a notable decline in underwriting performance in 2014 and 2015. 3.     In Medicaid managed care, aggregate plan revenue increased steadily between 2011 and 2016, and underwriting performance grew impressively before retrenching in 2016. 4.     The largest Medicare and Medicaid plans by national revenue captured a disproportionate and growing share of industry underwriting gains. 5.     Medicare Advantage performance variation widened beginning in 2014; smaller plans and newer entrants experienced substantial headwinds. 6.     Medicaid managed care markets exhibited widening performance variation at the company and state levels beginning in 2014.