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September 15, 2005
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MHMR September 15, 2005; Volume 13, Number 15
’06 FEHBP rates to rise 6.6%...2Q05 HMO/POS lives fall 0.5%...United eyes 8-9% price hikes...Cigna not ready for acquisitions...Chart: FEHBP rates, 71 HMOs...BCBS-MN taps Reitan...Chart: 2Q05 HMO/POS lives...CO HMO net falls 47% in 2004...Chart: CO HMO financials...NE HMOs post profit gains...Chart: NE HMO financials...WellChoice offers Medicare PPO...Coventry 3-for-2 stock split...WellPoint buys Atrium...Aetna, Standard in Part D pact...Humana forms Part D network...MCO stocks rise 3%...Services stocks rise 3%...Caremark settles U.S. probe...NMHCS settles Midwest suit...and more...
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’06 FEHBP PREMIUM RATES TO RISE 6.6%
Premiums rates for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers 8 million current and retired federal employees, will rise just 6.6% in the fiscal year ending September 2006, the lowest rate of increase in nine years.
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2Q05 HMO/POS LIVES DECLINE 0.5%
Fully funded HMO and POS enrollment among 24 leading managed care organizations declined 0.5% to 58.927 million as of June 30, 2005, compared to the same period a year earlier.
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CIGNA NOT YET READY FOR ACQUISITIONS
Cigna Corp. (Philadelphia) continues to focus its efforts on completing the company’s already successful business and financial turnaround, according to chief executive Ed Hanway, who added that the company isn’t likely to pull the trigger on any acquisitions in the near future.
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CO HMO NET INCOME DROPS 47.3% IN ’04
HMOs in Colorado posted a 47.3% decline in net income to $110.005 million in 2004, while revenues rose 0.5% to $3.561 billion, according to an MHMR tally of state insurance department data on 12 leading plans.
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NE HMOs POST 3.8% GAIN IN ’04 NET INCOME
Nebraska HMOs reported 2004 net income of $56.748 million, a 3.8% increase from 2003, on revenues of $1.06 billion, a gain of 7.3%, according to an MHMR tally of state insurance department data on four leading plans.
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WELLCHOICE TO OFFER MEDICARE PPO IN NYC AREA
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, the primary operating unit of WellChoice (New York), announced that it had received approval to offer a Medicare PPO plan in the greater New York area, including New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties.
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COVENTRY ANNOUNCES 3-FOR-2 STOCK SPLIT
Coventry Health Care (Bethesda, MD), which has seen it stock price soar 50% this year, has announced a three-for-two stock split effective Oct. 17 for shareholders of record as of Oct. 2.
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WELLPOINT COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ATRIUM
WellPoint Inc. (Indianapolis) has completed the acquisition of the assets of Atrium Health Plan (Hudson, WI), a unit of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota serving 52,000 group and individual HMO and PPO lives in 28 counties in northern and western Wisconsin (MHMR, May 31). The operation will become part of CompcareBlue, the HMO subsidiary of WellPoint’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin unit.
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AETNA, STANDARD LIFE TO CO-MARKET PART D PLAN
Aetna Inc. (Hartford, CT) said it has joined Standard Life and Accident Insurance Co., a company of American National Insurance (Galveston, TX), to market co-branded Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through Standard’s network of 14,000 independent agents in 46 states.
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HUMANA ANNOUNCES MEDICARE DRUG NETWORK
Humana Inc. (Louisville, KY) announced that its preferred pharmacy network for the Medicare Part D prescription drug program will consist of the combined 14,500 retail locations of Brooks Eckerd, CVS, Rite Aid, and Wal-Mart (including all Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Neighborhood Market locations). All four chains are already part of Humana’s national pharmacy network.
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CAREMARK TO PAY $137.5 MM TO SETTLE U.S. PROBE
Caremark (Nashville, TN) has agreed to pay $137.5 million and adhere to certain business practices as part of a settlement with the U.S. government, which has been investigating the rebate policies of pharmacy benefit management companies since 1999.
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NMHCS SETTLES MIDWEST HEALTH SUIT FOR $2 MILLION
National Medical Health Card Systems Inc. (Pt. Washington, NY) has agreed to pay $2 million to Midwest Health Plan (Dearborn, MI) to settle a lawsuit brought by MHP related to a July 1999 service agreement. NMHCS will recognize a one-time charge of $1.7 million for the quarter ended June 30.
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