Health Plan Weekly

With Medicaid demonstration programs that include work requirements struck down in three states, it’s become increasingly clear that such waivers may not survive legal scrutiny. So Nebraska, which last month submitted its own Section 1115 waiver application, is trying a different tactic.

In its application to CMS, the state proposes to modify voter-approved Medicaid expansion by creating two tiers of coverage: Basic, which includes “comprehensive medical, behavioral health and prescription drug coverage” as required by federal law, and Prime, which is the Basic package plus vision, dental and over-the-counter medication coverage. To access the Prime benefits, non-exempted adults must complete “certain wellness, personal responsibility and community engagement activities” such as choosing a primary care provider, regularly attending scheduled doctor appointments, and engaging in a job or volunteer work.

Access to primary care is one of the crucial challenges facing the health care system. As payers and providers try to rein in specialist and acute care overuse, preventive medicine and patient education — central aspects of primary care — have become more important than ever, especially as the baby boomer generation ages into Medicare plans.

Yet a shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs) has frustrated efforts to manage care systemwide. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners have started to fill some demand, but the number of people with a PCP declined between 2002 and 2015, according to a December 2019 JAMA Internal Medicine study.

✦ The Trump administration and Republican state attorneys general filed a countermotion against a bid by Democratic state attorneys general and House Democrats to speed the Supreme Court’s review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s decision on Texas v. United States, which deemed the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional (HPW 1/6/20, p. 1). The House motion argued that delaying review would cause instability in health insurance markets, and adversely affect enrollees. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a payer trade group, filed an amicus brief in support of the Democrats’ motion. “The district court’s original decision to invalidate the entire ACA was misguided and wrong,” said AHIP CEO Matt Eyles. View the court documents at https://bit.ly/2RmDVMR and https://bit.ly/2suLJUf.

✦ Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear (D) reissued a request for proposals (RFP) for Medicaid managed care contracts after the state legislature removed enrollee work requirements from the authorizing legislation (HPW 1/6/20, p. 7). Beshear’s administration set Feb. 7 as the deadline for proposals, and hopes to enter vendor agreements with up to five payers. Current contracts, which expire June 30, are in effect with CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna, Humana Inc., Anthem, Inc., WellCare Health Plans, Inc., and Kentucky non-profit payer Passport. UnitedHealth Group and Molina Healthcare, Inc. participated in the previous administration’s RFP. The state will additionally award a contract to one of the bidders that will provide care for youth living under state authority. View the RFP at https://bit.ly/373gVJl.

The individual insurance market’s financial performance remained stable in the first nine months of 2019, despite the repeal of the individual mandate tax penalty, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The individual market medical loss ratio (MLR) has improved in recent years and averaged 75% throughout the third quarter of 2019. Average gross margins per member per month, however, slightly declined to $131.17 from $146.13 in 2018. Average monthly premiums went up 1.7% from 2018 to 2019, while per person claims grew 6.7%.

UnitedHealth Group beat analysts’ earnings-per-share estimate for 2019’s fourth quarter, driven by strong performance in both its UnitedHealthcare and Optum segments.

For the full 2019 calendar year, earnings from operations grew $2.3 billion or 13.5% year over year to $19.7 billion, the company said. Full year adjusted net earnings per share of $15.11 grew 17% year over year, while fourth quarter adjusted net earnings per share of $3.90 grew 19% year over year, UnitedHealth reported.