Dive Brief:
- Molina Healthcare inked a deal to acquire the Medicaid long-term care business from AgeWell New York for $110 million in cash, the insurer said Thursday.
- As part of the agreement, Molina will pick up about 13,000 people who are chronically ill or disabled and covered by AgeWell's long-term care services, which provides care inside and outside the home.
- The full-year 2020 premium revenue for these long-term care members was about $700 million. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022 and is subject to state and federal approvals.
Dive Insight:
Molina has been on a steady clip of acquiring businesses that build on its core business of providing health insurance coverage through government programs.
CEO Joe Zubretsky said the latest deal is "representative of our strategic growth strategy."
Most recently, the Long Beach, California-based insurer purchased Cigna's Medicaid business in Texas for $60 million in cash. That deal is set to boost Molina's footprint by 48,000 Medicaid members there, plus 2,000 dual Medicaid-Medicare enrollees.
As of June 30, Molina covered 4.7 million Medicaid members, a 32% jump from the same time last year. Molina credited that increase to its previous purchase of a Kentucky Medicaid plan.
Policy decisions by the Biden administration have also helped Medicaid managed care companies retain more members. In particular, Medicaid members cannot be kicked off their existing Medicaid plan so long as the COVID-19 public health emergency is in place.
Medicaid enrollment hit a record high this year due to the enrollment gains over the course of the pandemic as people lost job-based coverage.
During last year's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Zubretsky was very clear about the company's strategy going forward.
"We are a managed care company. We like membership. We like premium. We like capitated risk. That's what we do, that's who we are," Zubretsky told the crowd in San Francisco.