Centene is exiting six states through its WellCare Medicare Advantage (MA) subsidiary next year, investment bank Stephens has revealed.
Those six impacted states are Alabama, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont, with approximately 12,600 members affected in New Mexico, the most of any state.
In Vermont, Centene accounts for about 9% of the market share in the state. All told, all market exits will impact around 37,300 members and about 3% of Centene’s current MA membership, a research note from Stephens showed.
“Notably, CVS and UnitedHealthcare both maintain presences across each impacted market,” the brief said.
The insurer will still offer its prescription drug plans in these states. Centene commands the most market share for standalone Part D in the country at 29%, data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show.
Centene did not respond to a request for comment from Fierce Healthcare.
Total MA enrollment for Centene decreased 13% year over year as of July, due to a 27% drop in group MA and a nearly 13% decrease in individual MA, by far the biggest decrease among major national health insurers.
In a memo posted by health brokerage Pinnacle Financial Services, Centene said the withdrawal “does not impact our individual marketplace or Medicaid contracts in these markets,” as first reported by Modern Healthcare.
“While our state footprint is changing, our commitment to delivering quality care and services to our members remains strong,” said Centene. “We want you to know this difficult decision was not made lightly but will enable us to better focus our strategy and resources, so we can continue transforming the health of the communities we serve, one person at a time – for years to come.”