Healthways Hawaii helps boost HMSA

Hawaii Medical Service Association said the addition of 220 employees from partner Healthways Hawaii helped the state’s largest health insurer post a $12.3 million profit in the second quarter.

But HMSA’s net income still was down 22.6 percent from $15.9 million in the year-earlier period.

HMSA President and CEO Michael Gold said Friday that nurses, clinicians and health coaches from Healthways Hawaii have been “a major help in improving the health of our members and Hawaii’s communities.” Healthways Hawaii provides services such as health coaching, care management and well-being classes.

“Their work has positively affected our operating results,” Gold said.

HMSA still works with Healthways, but the majority of its Hawaii employees now work directly for HMSA under a new 10-year extended agreement announced in September.

Global uncertainty and a stagnant U.S. stock market dealt a major blow to HMSA’s investments as they fell 68.5 percent to $5.1 million last quarter from $16.2 million in the year-earlier period. The insurer, though, benefited by an increase in premium revenue, which rose 4.2 percent to $780.5 million from $748.8 million. It also spent 1.1 percent less on medical benefits — $686.2 million versus $693.9 million in the year-earlier quarter .

HMSA’s cost to administer benefits rose 30 percent to $81.3 million from $62.7 million. The insurer also paid $716,881 in Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, fees and taxes last quarter. That compares with an ACA adjustment benefit of $2.5 million in the second quarter of 2015.

The insurer’s operating results swung to an operating gain of $12.3 million last quarter compared with a loss of $5.4 million in the year-earlier period.

HMSA’s total membership rose to 733,737 at the end of the quarter from 726,350 in the year-earlier period.

“The fact that our membership is still growing tells us that we’re doing a good job,” Gold said.

HMSA ended the quarter with $358.2 million in reserves, or $488 per member per month.

Earlier this month, HMSA said it would propose an average 43.3 percent rate increase for about 20,000 individuals with Obamacare health plans in 2017. HMSA lost $17.5 million on Obamacare plans last year.