Health Plan Weekly
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One in Three HHS Appointees Exit for Industry Jobs
One-third of political appointees to HHS between 2004 and 2020 later exited to work for the private sector, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs.
Based on an analysis of employment histories for 766 appointees, the researchers found that more than half of appointees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CMS and the Office of the Deputy Secretary at HHS went straight to private industry after their government employment.
Meanwhile, about 15% of people appointed to HHS during the study period were employed in the private sector immediately before joining the government. A greater share of people appointed by a Republican president came from the industry compared with a Democratic president, yet net rates of exit to industry remained similar.
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MCO Stock Performance, August 2023
Here’s how major health insurers’ stock performed in August 2023. UnitedHealth Group had the highest closing stock price among major commercial insurers as of August 31, 2023, at $476.58. Humana Inc. had the highest closing stock price among major Medicare insurers at $461.63.
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News Briefs: Idaho Completes Medicaid Redeterminations
Idaho is the first state to complete its Medicaid eligibility redeterminations process, the state’s Medicaid agency announced on Sept. 8. The state “processed 153,196 renewals, and 31,900 were determined eligible, and 121,296 were ineligible,” according to a post from the state’s Dept. of Health and Welfare (DEW). DEW added that the resumption of redeterminations is “a large and important undertaking that DEW has taken very seriously.” To handle redeterminations, “we committed more than 300 eligibility staff to the effort and an additional 42 staff from our call center.” The news is somewhat surprising, as Idaho paused redeterminations earlier this year due to what KFF termed “technical difficulties.” CMS has warned state Medicaid agencies not to disenroll Medicaid members too quickly.
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Centene, Humana Execs Downplay COVID, Redetermination Headwinds
Executives from health insurance firms Centene Corp. and Humana Inc. on Sept. 6 pitched investors on rosy projections for the rest of the year at the 2023 Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference — despite ongoing Medicaid eligibility redeterminations and elevated utilization in Medicare Advantage, particularly around COVID-19 hospitalizations.
In remarks during the conference, Centene CEO Sarah London highlighted the spinoffs and balance sheet restructuring that she has orchestrated since taking over the firm in spring 2022. London said that Centene bought back $200 million of shares in August, and “expect[s] to exceed our original $1.5 billion share repurchase target in 2023.”
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Self-Insured Firms Struggle to Drive Hard Bargains With Health Care Providers
Self-insured plans pay higher prices for many health care services compared with fully insured plans, according to an analysis of claims data published in this month’s issue of Health Affairs. Aditi P. Sen, Ph.D., the study’s lead author, says the findings “suggest that employers are generally not able to negotiate prices on behalf of their employees, and I don’t think that should be surprising. It really reflects the dynamics in health care markets.”
In self-insured plans, employers assume financial responsibility for their workers’ health care claims rather than having a health insurer take on that risk — theoretically giving such companies more incentive to drive costs down.
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