News Briefs: Centene Will Exit MA Market in Six States Next Year

For the 2025 plan year, Centene Corp. will not offer Medicare Advantage plans in Alabama, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont, Modern Healthcare reported, citing an Aug. 5 note from investment bank Stephens. However, Centene will continue offering Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans in those states. Pinnacle Financial Services, a health insurance brokerage, also posted to its website a notice from Centene about exiting those markets, which account for about 3% of the insurer’s MA membership.  

BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, the state’s largest insurer, is on the verge of insolvency, according to a July 29 article in the Burlington Free Press. However, Kevin Gaffney, commissioner of the state’s Department of Financial Regulation, told the newspaper, “BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont is a big tanker. We have to start to turn it. We can do that and there are steps to do it.” Gaffney said he is requiring the insurer to file a plan of solvency by early September. In October 2023, BCBS of Vermont finalized an “affiliation” with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in which the Vermont plan became a subsidiary of BCBS of Michigan.