The Marketing Alliance and EHealth See Commission Revenue Holding Up

The Marketing Alliance (TMA) came close to holding its life insurance and annuity distribution revenue steady during the quarter that ended March 31, and eHealth produced a big increase in its health insurance distribution revenue for the quarter ending June 30.

TMA is a St. Louis-based company with stock that trades on the Over the Counter system. It has a fiscal year that starts April 1.

The heart of the company is a business that distributes life insurance, annuities, long-term care insurance, disability insurance and Medicare supplement insurance.

The company also has an excavation business, and a business that owns and runs indoor playrooms.

Resources

Links to eHealth earnings resources are available here.
Links to TMA earnings resources are available here.
An earlier article about eHealth’s earnings is available here.
An earlier article about TMA’s earnings is available here.

TMA as a whole is reporting a $1.8 million net loss for its fourth quarter, which was the first quarter of the calendar year, on $9.9 million in revenue. That compares with $950,841 in net income on $11 million in revenue for the first quarter of calendar year 2019.

COVID-19 quarantine rules have been cruel to indoor playrooms, and family entertainment revenue fell to $562,170 for the first quarter of this calendar year, down from $1.2 million in the first quarter of calendar year 2019.

Construction revenue increased to $150,608, from $28,516.

Insurance commission and fee revenue edged lower, to $8.8 million, from $9 million.

The company paid its own affiliated distributors $7.2 million in bonuses and commissions, up from $6.9 million in the first quarter of calendar year 2019.

Timothy Klusas, TMA’s chief executive officer, said in a comment about the results, which was included in the company’s earnings announcement, that the company had to shift to digital sales processes quickly.

Even though the company shifted quickly, problems with helping clients complete medical exams and get physician reports hurt sales, Klusas said.

EHealth

EHealth, meanwhile, continued to increase its focus on the Medicare plan market.

The Santa Clara, California-based web broker is reporting a net loss of $3.4 million for the second quarter of the year, which ended June 30, on $89 million in revenue, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million on $66 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2019.

Revenue from sales of individual major medical medical policies, family policies, and related products fell 38%, to $8.4 million.

Revenue from sales of Medicare plans increased 54%, to $80 million.

Although major medical sales fell, the major medical business the company did produce was highly profitable: eHealth has recorded $2.6 million in major medical insurance segment profit

The company’s estimate of the “constrained lifetime value of commissions per approved member” increased to $258 per Affordable Care Act exchange plan enrollee, up 61% from the average for the second quarter of 2019.

The constrained lifetime value fell 4% for Medicare Advantage plan enrollees, to $945, and increased 17% for Medicare supplement insurance policyholders, to $1,134.