Early Experience of Financial Performance and Solvency of Medicaid-Focused Insurers Under ACA Expansion

To allow for greater coverage of the uninsured, the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid coverage in 2014. Accessing financial data of state health insurers from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, this data trend study compares the financial performance and solvency of Medicaid-focused health insurers prior to and after the first year expansion of Medicaid coverage. After the first year of Medicaid expansion, there was a significant increase in operating profit margin ratio for Medicaid-focused health insurers within expansion states. Lower medical loss ratio as well as no change in administrative costs contributed to this profitable position. The risk-based capital ratio for solvency increased significantly for health insurers in nonexpansion states while there was no change in this ratio for health insurers in expansion states. Conversely, the other important solvency ratio of cash flow margin increased significantly for health insurers in expansion states but not for insurers in nonexpansion states.