Anthem, Centene Seek Attention for Higher Earnings

Anthem Inc. and Centene Corp. posted solid results for the second quarter as the Senate monpolized investor attention.

(Related: A Q2 Insurance Earnings Release Guide for Agents)

Anthem, the multi-state Blue Cross and Blue Shield giant, is reporting $855 million in net income for the second quarter on $22 billion in revenue, up from $781 million in net income on $21 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2016.

The Indianapolis-based company ended the quarter providing or administering major medical coverage for 40 million people, or about 1.6% more people than it was covering a year earlier.

Enrollment in individual and family policies fell 1.8%, to 1.8 million, but enrollment in local group coverage increased 3.4%, to 16 million.

About 1 million of the individual and family policyholders were in Affordable Care Act public exchange plans; 500,000 were in Affordable Care Act-compliant policies sold outside of the exchange system; and 300,000 were in policies written under the pre-Affordable Care Act rules.

Medicaid plan enrolment grew 3%, to 6.5 million, and Medicare plan enrollment grew 4.1%, to 1.5 million.

Joseph Swedish, Anthem’s president, said today during a conference call with securities analysts that Anthem has already pulled out of Affordable Care Act state exchange programs that serve about 10% of its exchange plan enrollees, and that it might pull out of other state’s exchange programs if it does not get some more information about how the individual market will work in 2018.

“There are still major areas of marketplace uncertainty,” Swedish said.