Dive Brief:
- On Monday, Aetna, the third largest U.S. health insurer, stated in its Q4 earnings report individual commerical health plans under the ACA "remained unprofitable in 2015," reported Forbes.
- However, other lines of business, including government revenue growth in Medicaid and Medicare plans, helped the company's profit to rise 38% in Q4 of 2015.
- For 2016, Aetna predicted its membership will decline from 23.5 million individuals at the end of 2015 to 22.7 or 22.8 million individuals at the end of Q1 2016, Bloomberg reported.
Dive Insight:
In Q4 of 2015, Aetna's net income increased to $320.8 million, or 91 cents a share, compared to $232 million, or 65 cents a share, the previous year.
It's not shocking the insurer noticed a dip in revenue through the ACA plans. Like it's competitor Anthem, the insurer hasn't seen great returns on participation. Aetna Chairman Mark Bertolini stated on this morning's conference call he's still concerned about the stability of risk involved in such plans, Forbes reported. "We do not expect material growth in this business," he was quoted.
However, the ACA individual plans only include about 1 million members, less than 5% of the insurer's total membership. The Medicare and Medicaid business is more than enough for the company to report a Q4 profit.