Elevance Health asserts that it has surpassed UnitedHealthcare to become the largest insurer in the United States.
As per Healthcare Dive, Elevance’s financial records over the past six quarters indicate that it has supplied medical coverage to more people in the United States than UnitedHealthcare, a long-standing industry heavyweight.
CEO Gail Boudreaux stated on Wednesday that the latest count “solidifies” Elevance’s position as the largest U.S.-based medical membership insurance provider. However, some analysts have yet to anoint Elevance as the top company. According to them, the company that should be regarded the largest insurer carrier relies on how members are tallied.
Elevance Health completed the third quarter with 47,2 million members, including BlueCard members, while UnitedHealthcare insured 45,9 million individuals in the United States.
There are 6.5 million BlueCard subscribers at Elevance. Moody’s Investors Service senior analyst Dean Ungar does not include these individuals in Elevance’s total enrolment. “It is, in a sense, double counting,” Ungar told Healthcare Dive. Brad Ellis, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, also does not count BlueCard members because they belong to Elevance’s Blue Cross Blue Shield member programs.
BlueCard is a system developed by Elevance that enables members of one Blue Cross Blue Shield plan to access the provider networks of other BCBS plans in other states. Members may reside in Ohio yet be employed by a Florida-based corporation, according to Ellis. In this instance, the individual utilizes the BlueCard network yet is a member and policyholder of the Florida plan.
Elevance counts these members because they undertake administrative responsibilities, like as claims pricing, for the member plans. Elevance also collects fees from the home plan of BlueCard customers.
Elevance Health completed the third quarter with 47,2 million members, including BlueCard members, while UnitedHealthcare insured 45,9 million individuals in the United States.
In the past 12 months, the Indianapolis-based insurer has surpassed UnitedHealthcare in terms of total members. Analyst David Windley of Jefferies stated in a recent note: Whether or not BlueCard members are included, Elevance wins regardless.
Ungar stated, “Nevertheless, this is fantastic news for them.” “They are more active. They are a much greater competitor. For this, [CEO Gail Boudreaux] deserves a great deal of praise.”
Elevance, formerly known as Anthem, surpassed UnitedHealthcare’s domestic medical enrollment for the first time in the second quarter of 2021, as the nation was emerging from a COVID-19-related winter increase in cases and hospitalizations.
As a result of federal rules aimed to prevent Americans from losing coverage during the pandemic, enrollment has increased for insurers. Medicaid expansion has accelerated since 2020. States are prohibited from expelling Medicaid members during a public health emergency.
According to the CMS, around 82 million people had Medicaid coverage in June 2022, a 30% increase since February 2020. Many insurers have contracts with states to cover their Medicaid participants, and the pandemic has led to an increase in their Medicaid populations.
Since the first quarter of 2020, Elevance now insures over 11 million Medicaid participants, a 49% increase from the previous quarter. Once the public health emergency has over and states can continue removing ineligible Medicaid participants, analysts estimate insurer enrollment numbers to decline.
