Dive Brief:
- Aetna reported strong results for the 2016 third quarter thanks to several government programs.
- Revenues rose 6% to $15.8 billion fueled by the company's contracts with Medicare and state Medicaid insurance programs.
- Net income was $603.9 million, up 8% from $560.1 million in the third quarter of 2015.
Dive Insight:
The results come as Aetna is reducing its participation in the ACA individual public exchange markets. In August, the insurer said it was withdrawing from 536 individual markets in 2017 — maintaining a presence in only Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, and Virginia.
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini attributed the decision to a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million and total pretax losses of more than $430 million since January 2014 in individual plan offerings.
Shawn Guertin, Aetna executive vice president and chief financial officer said in a statement, “Operating results in our government business in particular remain robust.” He added that Aetna has the highest percentage of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in plans that have eared four stars or higher on the government’s five-star scale.
During the quarter, Aetna added 20,000 beneficiaries to its Medicare Advantage plans, growing overall membership to nearly 1.4 million, Forbes reports. The company said 90% of seniors are in Aetna plans with a four-star or better rating.
Meanwhile, Aetna’s Medicaid plans swelled to 2.4 million in the third quarter, up 9% from 2.2 million a year ago. Aetna has profited with other insurers from Medicaid expansion. To date, 31 states have chosen to expand their Medicaid programs.