Anthem, releasing its second-quarter earnings that were ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, said its Medicaid membership was up 940,000, or nearly 20%, at the end of the second quarter of this year to 5.76 million compared to 4.82 million at the end of June last year. That helped figure in Anthem CEO Joe Swedish's decision to once again raise the company's 2015 earnings forecast, boosting it this time to "greater than $10" per share from greater than $9.90, he said during a 45-minute call with analysts this morning.
Anthem, which operates under the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand in 14 states, is poised to unseat
But even without the growth by acquisition, Anthem is on a roll, reporting total medical enrollment of 38.5 million as of June 30, which is 1.3 million more members than at the end of last year’s second quarter.
Under the health law, states have the option to expand Medicaid coverage for poor Americans and more are dropping past political option and doing so to the benefit of the health insurance industry that contracts with the government to provide these health benefits.
Inside Obamacare: The Fix For America’s Ailing Health Care System explores the ways the Affordable Care Act will impact your health care.
In Anthem’s case, the bulk of the company’s growth is coming from Medicaid and helped increase second-quarter income 17.5% to $859.1 million from $731.1 million. Revenue rose 8.4% in the quarter to $19.8 billion.