In Brief: L.A. Expands Covered CA Provider Network; Up To 1.8 Million Enrolled In Medicaid
L.A. Care Adds HealthCare Partners To Exchange Network
L.A. Care Health Plan has added Southern California's largest medical group to the provider network for commercial enrollees who purchased coverage via the Covered California health insurance exchange.
Torrance-based HealthCare Partners was added to L.A. Care's network on Jan. 1. It has more than 2,100 contracted and employed physician specialists in its network.
“We are excited to offer an expanded L.A. Care...provider network through our partnership with HealthCare Partners, one of the largest, most respected and successful medical groups in the state,” Howard A. Kahn, L.A. Care's chief executive officer, in a statement.
L.A. Care is one of two large health plans specializing in serving the state's Medi-Cal population that is offering coverage via the exchange, along with Long Beach-based Molina Healthcare. L.A. Care operates only in Los Angeles County.
But despite offering some of the lowest premiums on the exchange, both plans have lagged far behind in enrollment compared to more mainstream commercial plans such as Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Health Net and Kaiser Permanente. As of mid-January, 93% of enrollees in L.A. County picked those four commercial plans.
Although L.A. Care has more than 1 million Medi-Cal and Healthy Family enrollees countywide, it has signed up slightly more than 8,000 enrollees via Covered California through Dec. 31, or only about 1.6% of the total who have purchased coverage. That compares to more than 150,000 for Anthem Blue Cross and more than 140,000 for Blue Shield.
An L.A. Care official declined to specify whether the deal with HealthCare Partners was made to provide a more attractive provider network that would help boost enrollment. “They have extensive geographic coverage, strong hospital relationships and significant experience in delivering quality care to commercial patients,” said spokesperson Elena Stern.
Avalere Calculates New Medicaid Enrollment
As many as 1.8 million Americans have enrolled in the Medicaid program as a result of the relaxed income requirements under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report by the consulting firm Avalere Health.
The Washington, D.C.-based Avalere used enrollment data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the healthcare.gov insurance exchange and state exchange enrollment reports. It used enrollment data from October through December 2013 and compared them to the average number of applications submitted from July through September of 2013.
As a result, Avalere calculated that between 1.1 million and 1.8 million people have enrolled in Medicaid under the ACA guidelines, which loosened eligibility to up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under those guidelines, but even states that have refused to expand have received additional applications due to publiclity about the ACA.
Avalere did not release data specific to California.
