Although Slowing, Health Plans' Commercial Enrollment Decline Continued Over First Half Of 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, the leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that managed care organizations continued to lose commercial health plan membership between January 2010 and July 2010. According to new data available from HealthLeaders-InterStudy, commercial medical enrollment declined by 1.88 million over the first six months of the year, compared with a 2.54 million drop over the same time period in 2009. As of July 2010, national commercial medical benefit enrollment stands at 160.17 million. These findings are from the newest release of Managed Market Surveyor-Rx, a database product that delivers medical and pharmacy benefit enrollment by managed care organization and geography.

Commercial pharmacy enrollment, or individuals choosing to enroll in just the pharmaceutical care portion of their plan, which covers things such as prescriptions, fell 1.13 million to 115.54 million between January 2010 and July 2010. This is the first time since 2008 that pharmacy enrollment declines were less than declines in commercial medical enrollment where individuals choose to enroll in just the medical portion of their plan, which covers things such as physician and hospital visits.

"While employment growth has made a tentative turn to the positive, group and individual health insurance premiums continue to rise at rates beyond inflation. Employers are trying to continue to provide health insurance to their employees, often shifting more of the financial burden to employees," said Rebecca Waller, a senior data analyst with HealthLeaders-InterStudy. "However, individuals facing static or declining wages are continuing to opt out of health insurance coverage."

Nationwide Medicaid enrollment rose 1.84 million to 56.1 million in the first half of 2010. The number of those lives in managed care has increased by 1.17 million. States struggling to meet their budgets are turning to Medicaid managed care programs as a way to reduce costs.

Webinar

HealthLeaders-InterStudy will be hosting a webinar entitled Staying Ahead of the Game in an Uncertain Economy. This webinar will be held on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. For more information, please contact Erin O'Leary at 781-993-2641 or by email at [email protected].

Why Pharmaceutical Companies Need Managed Market Surveyor-Rx

Managed Market Surveyor-Rx delivers medical and pharmacy benefit enrollment data by managed care organization and geography (national, state, MSA, county) to better inform strategic planning and resource allocation. Relying on primary research and HealthLeaders-InterStudy's proprietary validation methodology, Managed Market Surveyor-Rx provides the most accurate managed care database available.

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HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Decision Resources, Inc. company, is the authoritative source for managed care data, analysis and news. For more information, please visit www.HL-ISY.com.

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SOURCE HealthLeaders-InterStudy