Here are five things to know.
1. The payer attributed the doubling of its profits to winning two Medicaid contracts and the closing of two of its four acquisitions in 2016. The payer finalized its acquisition of Care1st Health Plan Arizona and its two subsidiaries — Care1st Health Plan Arizona and One Care — Dec. 31, 2016. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
2. The payer’s fourth quarter net income was $44.9 million in 2016, more than triple its Q4 2015 net income of $13 million. WellCare attributed the growth primarily to operational improvements, especially in its Medicare segments.
3. WellCare saw its total revenue increase slightly in Q4 2016 to $3.51 billion, up from $3.49 billion in 2015. The payer’s full-year revenue for 2016 was 14.2 billion, up from 13.9 billion in 2015. WellCare saw the greatest growth in premium revenue from its Medicaid health plans, which increased 4.7 percent to $9.5 billion in 2016.
4. WellCare’s total membership grew 3.5 percent year-over-year to 3.9 million as of the end of 2016. The insurer saw the largest gains in its Medicaid membership, which grew 6.5 percent year-over-year to 2.5 million because of the company’s acquisition of Care1st Arizona.
5. In its Q4 results, WellCare reaffirmed its full-year 2017 adjusted earnings per diluted share to between $6 and $6.25, however the guidance does not reflect its pending acquisitions of Universal American Corp. and certain assets of Phoenix Health Plan.
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