AIG Says It's Still Thinking About the Proposed Life Split: Earnings

Long-term care insurance “benefits and other changes in policy reserves” fell to $863 million, from $925 million a year earlier, and stood at the lowest level in at least two years.

At the long-term care insurance unit, “claim terminations in the current quarter were higher compared to the prior quarter and prior year,” the company said in its earnings announcement.

“Although it is not the company’s current practice to track cause of death for LTC policyholders and claimants, the elevated terminations impacting the current and prior quarter were likely the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The number of policyholders filing new LTCI claims was also lower than usual.

“The recent decrease in incidence is assumed to be driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and temporary in nature,” Genworth said. “The company also assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated its mortality experience on the most vulnerable claimants, leaving its overall claim population less likely to terminate compared to the pre-pandemic average population.”

Genworth has increased reserves to prepare for the possibility that “incurred but not reported” LTCI claims may be high, and the possibility that the number of LTCI claims terminated due to death may fall, the company said.

CVS Health (Aetna) (NYSE:CVS)

CVS is reporting $975 million in net income for the fourth quarter of 2020 on $70 billion in revenue, compared with $1.7 billion in net income on $67 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019.

The Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based drug store company’s health care benefits unit, which now includes Aetna and some other operations, ended the quarter providing or administering coverage for 23 million people, or about as many people as it was covering a year earlier

Here’s what happened to enrollment in five types of coverage between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the latest quarter.

• Commercial Insured: 3.3 million (down from 3.6 million)
• Commercial Self-Insured: 13.6 million (down from 14.2 million)
• Medicare Advantage: 2.7 million (up from 2.3 million)
• Medicare Supplement: 1.1 million (up from 881,000)
• Medicaid:  2.7 million (up from 2 million)

Because social distancing efforts aimed at controlling COVID-19 reduced the number of head cold and influenza cases sharply, sales of cough and cold products fell, but COVID-19 diagnostic testing revenue offset some of the loss of cough and cold product revenue.

Aetna has extended waivers for:

• Out-of-pocket costs for inpatient hospital admissions for treatment or health complications associated with COVID-19 for commercial members through Jan. 31, and for Medicare Advantage members through March 31.
• Cost-sharing for in-network telemedicine visits by commercial members for outpatient behavioral and mental health counseling services through Jan. 31.
• Cost-sharing for student health plan members’ use of covered in-network telemedicine visits for medical and behavioral health services through Jan. 31.

CVS Health has administered about 15 million COVID-19 tests nationwide at its pharmacies, and about 3 million COVID-19 vaccines in long-term care facilities.