Dive Brief:
- Anthem on Wednesday announced it was entering an agreement to acquire HealthSun.
- HealthSun, founded in 2005, serves a growing Medicare Advantage membership base.
- HealthSun currently serves 40,000 members through its Medicare Advantage plans in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida.
Dive Insight:
While the deal is subject to regulatory approval from state and federal authorities, the acquisition shows insurers are increasingly interested in Medicare Advantage products.
And it's not a surprise a major insurer like Anthem would target Florida, the popular retirement state. "With the addition of HealthSun, Anthem’s affiliated Medicare and Medicaid plans will now serve more than 650,000 members in Florida," the insurer stated.
Other major insurers, such as Humana and United Health, are also making plays for the Medicare Advantage market. That market was a large reason the Aetna-Humana merger proposal did not happen. The Department of Justice stated the proposed merger would reduce competition in markets for individual insurance and Medicare Advantage plans.
In July, UnitedHealth, the biggest player in the Medicare Advantage space currently, said it believes eventually half of all Medicare beneficiaries will be covered by the program. Humana planned to add 500 employees to handle MA applications during this year's open enrollment period.