Medicaid and Medicare Account for Nearly 60 Percent of Health Care Revenues for Five Largest Insurers
<p>In 2016, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for nearly 60 percent of health care revenues reported by the nation’s five largest commercial health insurance companies, according to a new <em>Health Affairs</em> study supported by the Commonwealth Fund. Revenue from public coverage has more than doubled since passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), growing from a combined total of $92.5 billion in 2010 to $213.1 billion in 2016. </p><p>While the top five insurers — UnitedHealthCare, Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, and Humana — have remained profitable by increasing their Medicaid and Medicare enrollments, some have recently made decisions to leave the ACA marketplaces in several states, even as they continue to enroll people in non-ACA public coverage. To improve the marketplaces’ stability, the authors say policymakers could consider requiring insurers to offer marketplace coverage if they participate in Medicaid and Medicare within the same geographic area. </p>
<p>“Many states’ ACA marketplaces are facing uncertainty about insurer participation and have fewer choices for consumers,” said Cathy Schoen, the study’s lead author and a senior scholar at the New York Academy of Medicine. “Requiring insurers that participate in Medicaid and Medicare to offer marketplace coverage could help shore up those state markets.”</p>