Despite uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act, Massachusetts insurers saw financial improvements in the first three months of the year, their first quarter of fiscal 2017.
The state’s top insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, was the only one to report figures in the black, with operating income of $11.4 million on $1.86 billion in revenue. That compares to an operating loss of 77.8 million on $1.77 billion in revenue in the same quarter a year prior.
The company said that the positive margins were largely influenced by not having to pay an annual fee mandated by the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
“One of the major year-over-year differences in our first quarter results is that health plans are not required to pay the Affordable Care Act’s health insurer fee in 2017. The suspension of the tax has already been factored into our premiums,” said Andreana Santangelo, Blue Cross’ chief financial officer, in a release.
Several of the state’s other insurers reported financial results for the first quarter on Monday, and have also seen an improvement in operations from last year, but cautioned that the finances could be negatively impacted by federal health care reform in the future.
Tufts Health Plan reported an operating loss of $8.2 million on $1.2 billion in revenue in the quarter. That’s improved from an operating loss of $27.3 million on $1.1 billion in revenue in the same quarter a year prior.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care also reported an operating loss of $5.5 million on $788.3 million in revenue for the quarter. That’s an improvement over an operating loss of $36.6 million on $749.7 million in revenue in the same quarter a year prior.
Fallon Health reported a $3.6 million operating loss on $319 million in revenue in the quarter. That’s better than the $6.4 million operating loss on $298 million in revenue in the same period a year prior.
Health care changes at the federal level that could threaten progress in the future. Tufts executives said they are concerned that federal subsidies the insurer receives for programs that cater to low-income individuals could go away, and said state funding for health care could be stressed.
Date:May 15, 2017