Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hint Of Higher Hospital Spending Sends Health Insurer Stocks Plummeting
Humana gave the first indication Wednesday that hospital spending could eventually eat into the earnings of health insurers. The announcement dented the stocks of all health insurers. Competitors Aetna, Anthem and UnitedHealth Group reported this month that their medical-loss ratios in the first quarter had decreased, and none said there was an underlying surge in healthcare utilization. That so far has been in direct contrast to economic indicators and guidance from hospital chain HCA that show hospital spending and admissions were on the rise. (Herman, 4/29)
Humana Inc. on Wednesday reported earnings that fell below analysts鈥 expectations on an operating basis, despite membership growth. The company reaffirmed its full-year earnings outlook (Wilde Mathews and Dulaney, 4/29)
Several of the nation's biggest health insurers have hiked earnings expectations for 2015 after blowing past first-quarter forecasts and heading into a much more stable future than they faced this time last year. A better understanding of the health care overhaul's impact, lighter Medicare Advantage funding cuts and old-fashioned business growth all helped deliver a confidence boost to much of the sector. (Murphy, 4/29)
The Indianapolis-based Anthem echoed its competitors Wednesday in flagging restrained medical spending growth. Wayne S. DeVeydt, chief financial officer, said that if the second quarter continues the trend of the first quarter, 鈥渨e clearly would have a bias toward the lower end鈥 of its projected trend. (Wilde Mathews and Chen, 4/29)
Meanwhile, a report shows that Catholic health care giant Ascension saw higher returns from hospitals in Medicaid expansion states and coverage continues of a discrimination lawsuit against Cigna -
A report released Thursday shows Edmundson-based Ascension Health has reaped the benefits of an expanded Medicaid program under the federal health care law. The study, authored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, compared Medicaid patient discharges and finances at Ascension hospitals across the country. It found that hospitals in Medicaid expansion states had higher rates of growth in patient volume and took in more revenue from Medicaid than facilities in states without expansion. (Shapiro, 4/30)
Cigna Corp has been hit with a lawsuit claiming that the health insurer discriminates against people with HIV/AIDS by forcing them to get some of their medications exclusively from its own mail-order pharmacy as part of a scheme to boost profits. The suit, filed on Monday in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, was brought by the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. It alleges that Cigna's policy violates the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, by discriminating against people based on their medical condition. (4/30)
