The Affordable Care Act's exchanges have not been a bust for every health insurer. Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate made a profit of almost a half-billion dollars on the ACA's new individual plans last year.
The substantial ACA exchange losses exhibited by large health insurers—such as Health Care Service Corp., Highmark, Humana and UnitedHealth Group—have emboldened the law's critics and worried investors about whether the marketplaces will ever achieve sustainability.
Yet other companies, including Medicaid insurers Centene Corp. and Molina Healthcare, and now the Florida Blues, have had no difficulties making money on the ACA plans, which often have narrow provider networks as well as high deductibles.
The Florida Blues recorded a $471 million gross profit on ACA-compliant individual plans in 2015, compared with a $124 million gross profit from the policies in 2014, according to the insurer's financial filings. Those figures represent the underwriting profit and don't subtract administrative expenses associated with those plans. The insurer enrolled about 500,000 people in ACA plans by the end of 2015.
In a statement, a Florida Blues spokesman said the insurer's ACA marketplace success could be attributed to its retail centers, which provide one-on-one enrollment help, and its high-deductible plans. The filings indicate increased premium revenue and money from the ACA's risk adjustment program helped boost its individual business.
