WellPoint: exchanges meet company's expectations
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. (NYSE:WLP) said during a conference call on Wednesday to discuss its 4Q13 earnings that it had received about 400,000 health insurance applications through state and federal health exchanges in 2013, plus applications from about 100,000 individuals who applied for insurance directly with the company. WellPoint said that most of the exchange applicants were older than its existing members, but the payer had set its prices based on a model that accounted for older, sicker enrollees. WellPoint said its prices were 20-30% higher than its competitors in some large metropolitan markets.
WellPoint also said that it is too soon to know how many of the people who bought the company's plans had previously had insurance. The payer has been able to process and send enrollment cards to "the vast majority" of the applicants, but said it has not received payment for all of the plans sold. WellPoint also said it continues to receive "phantom" applications that were submitted to the exchanges in December for coverage beginning on January 1. ...