This week we are reading about AmeriLife’s new financing agreement, UnitedHealth’s acquisition of DaVita, and J.D. Power’s 2019 Medicare Advantage Study.
AmeriLife Completes $395 Million Financing Transaction | InsuranceNewsNet | June 17, 2019
AmeriLife Group, LLC (“AmeriLife”), a national leader in developing, marketing and distributing annuity, life and health insurance solutions, today announced that it has entered into new credit facilities that provide for up to $395 million of financing. The new agreement includes a $250 million first lien term loan, $70 million second lien term loan, $35 million delayed draw first lien term loan and a $40 million revolving credit facility.
Read the full press release on insurancenewsnet.com here.
UnitedHealth’s acquisition of DaVita physician group gets FTC approval | Healthcare Dive | June 20, 2019
UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest commercial payer, is completing the purchase through its Optum arm. The company said OptumCare will serve 16 million patients across 80 health plans with the DaVita acquisition. The medical group has practices in California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Washington state.
The deal, first announced in December 2017, is part of UnitedHealth and Optum’s continued plan to push vertical integration. Optum was a big part of the payer’s robust first quarter earnings report, showing 12% year-over-year revenue growth to $26.4 billion while earnings from operations grew nearly 14% year over year to $1.9 billion.
Read the full article on healthcaredive.com here.
Medicare Advantage Plan Customer Satisfaction Steady as Cost Drives Plan Selection, J.D. Power Finds | BioSpace | June 20, 2019
With enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans nearly doubling over the past decade—now reaching roughly 20.4 million Americans—health plans have been able to maintain consistently high levels of overall customer satisfaction. According to the J.D. Power 2019 Medicare Advantage Study,SM overall satisfaction with Medicare Advantage plans has increased slightly this year.
“Approximately 10,000 people turn 65 every day in America and many are choosing Medicare Advantage plans helping private plan membership grow nearly 10% between 2018 and 2019,” said James Beem, Managing Director, Global Healthcare Intelligence at J.D. Power. “That’s 1.6 million beneficiaries being added to a relatively small number of health plans in a very short time frame. Even though health plans have been delivering a remarkably consistent customer experience, there is still room for improvement in the form of lowering costs for seniors, proactive communication around explanation of benefits and helping members coordinate healthcare.”