Kaiser, Moda health plans post multimillion-dollar losses in 2018

Oregon health insurers saw varying results in fiscal year 2018, with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Moda Health Plan recording multimillion-dollar losses, according to The Lund Report.

Kaiser reported roughly $7 million in losses on revenues of more than $4 billion. Kaiser spokesperson Mike Foley told The Lund Report the losses were due to federal risk adjustment payments, which grew year over year by 80 percent to $66 million in 2018.

Under the ACA, the risk adjustment program collects money from insurers with fewer high-cost members and transfers those funds to insurers with more high-cost members.

Federal payments also dragged down Moda Health Plan's financial performance, company spokesperson Jonathan Nicholas told The Lund Report, though the health plan blamed a $249 million lapse in risk corridors payments for the poor performance.

The ACA's temporary risk corridors program was designed to level the financial playing field for payers during the first three years of the health law's implementation, 2014-16. Under the program, the government collected payments from insurers with lower-than-expected claims on the health insurance exchanges and made payments to insurers with higher-than-expected claims.

Both insurers said the losses don't reflect their overall financial health, according to the report.

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.