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Industry Research

The following reports cover the Health Care Systems market as followed by our BestWeek news publication. Complete access to the Special Reports & Statistical Studies listed below is available to full service subscribers of Best's Health Center - Premium Data & Reports or to BestWeek subscribers. Visit our NewsRoom for complete archives and advanced search features.

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2009 Statistical Study: U.S. Commercial Medical – 2008 Net Premiums Written : This statistical study presents top U.S. comprehensive commercial writers (hospital and medical) as ranked by net premiums written for 2008.
Date: 10/12/2009    Source: Statistical Studies (PDF)     Pages: 4
2009 Special Report: U.S. Health: 6-Month Market Review. Outlook Unchanged as Costs Increase Enrollment Decreases: A.M. Best is maintaining a negative outlook on the health insurance industry due to the continuing effects of the recession and future costs associated with the H1N1 virus, especially if the virus spreads and there’s uncertainty over health care reform.
Date: 10/5/2009    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 4
2009 Special Report: U.S. Hospitals – Market Review. Weak Margins Threaten Survival of Smaller Not-for-Profit Hospitals: A.M. Best believes that small to midsize, stand-alone, not-for-profit hospitals remain challenged in the near term, given the volatility in the capital markets and the generally negative economic conditions.
Date: 8/17/2009    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2009 Special Report: U.S. Health – Blue Cross Blue Shield 2008 Market Review. Blue Cross Blue Shield Results Indicate a Negative Impact in 2008: Aggregate results for Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in this study show a net income decline of 40.9% – a result of drops in both underwriting and investment income, year over year, as well as realized losses.
Date: 8/10/2009    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 20
2008 Special Report: U.S. HMO – 2007 Impairment Review. Medicare Advantage Plans Lead HMO Financial Impairments in 2007: The five health maintenance organization financial impairments of the past two years have predominately involved private-sector Medicare Advantage or Medicaid companies.
Date: 12/22/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2008 Special Report: U.S. Health – Presidential Candidates’ Health-Care Proposals Issue Review. Benefits, Pitfalls Mark Health Plans of Both Presidential Contenders: Republican Sen. John McCain is focused on reforming the tax code and creating incentives for obtaining insurance in an expanded individual market, while Sen. Barack Obama proposes building on existing private and public group insurance with shared responsibility for financial coverage.
Date: 10/27/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2008 Special Report: U.S. Hospitals/Health-Care Systems – Financial Review. Investments Move to Cash and Short Term as Pressures mount: As non-profit hospitals and health-care systems continue to be pressured for funds to support costly health information technology, facilities upgrades and maintenance, and the increasing demand for charity care and other types of community services, they are focusing more attention on managing their investments.
Date: 10/27/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 4
2008 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned Health Plans – 2007 Financial Review. Conservative Investment Strategy Pays Off for Plans in 2007: Due to financial turbulence, provider-owned or affiliated managed care companies continued to use a conservative approach in their invested assets portfolios in 2007.
Date: 9/15/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 12
2008 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned Health Plans – 2007 Financial Review. Overall, Gap Widens Between Most and Least Integrated Plans: A.M. Best’s 2007 Notching Model study results show that total capital and surplus for the study’s health plans increased 40% between 2004 and 2007, and 8% between 2006 and 007.
Date: 9/1/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2008 Special Report: U.S. Blue Cross & Blue Shield – 2007 Market Review. Earnings Decline, Expenses Are Up, but BCBS Results Remain Favorable: Despite declines in some key measures, overall results remained favorable for Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in 2007 and are expected to remain that way in 2008.
Date: 7/28/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 16
2008 Special Report: U.S. Mutual Accident & Health – 2007 Market Review. Mutual A&H Insurers Adapt to Changing Markets: U.S. mutual accident and health insurers must adapt and evolve to survive in a sector that that has driven many of them to niche positions in a world of health care dominated by managed care giants.
Date: 5/5/2008    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2007 Special Report: U.S. HMO – 2006 Impairment Review. HMO Impairments Remained Low in 2005 and 2006: The number of financially impaired Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) has fallen substantially to three each in 2005 and 2006 from nearly two dozen annually in the late 1990s, primarily due to stricter underwriting standards, stabilization in medical trends and the industry's improved financial performance.
Date: 12/3/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2007 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned & Affiliated Health Plans – Administrative Expenses. Administrative Expense Growth Slows for Provider-Owned, Affiliated Plans: Provider-owned and affiliated health plans finally have seen some relief from growth in administrative spending. After expenses outpaced revenues for a number of years, the latter exceeded expense growth by 9.24% in 2006.
Date: 12/3/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 6
2007 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned Health Plans – Rating Enhancement Assessment. Notching Model Uncovers Fruits of Integration for Health Care Systems: Total capital and surplus increased 31% between 2004 and 2006 for a group of provider-owned health plans studied by A.M. Best Co. Each year since 2004, 61% of the plans in the study have experienced an increase in capital and surplus.
Date: 10/15/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2007 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned Health Plans Underwriting Results. Provider-Owned Health Plans Maintain Stable Underwriting Results: Provider-owned and affiliated health plans took advantage of their unique position to post relatively stable underwriting results in 2006, weathering competitive pricing pressures from national insurers and Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans.
Date: 9/17/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
2007 Special Report: U.S. Provider-Owned Invested Assets–2006 Market Review. Provider-Owned & Affiliated Managed Care Companies Invest Conservatively: A conservative investment strategy is helping provider-owned and affiliated managed care companies to weather turbulent credit and equity markets as their asset base expands.
Date: 9/3/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
Administrative Costs Outpace Revenues for Provider-Owned and Affiliated Health Plans: Despite efficiencies sought from technology investments and continuous premium increases, administrative expenses grew faster than revenues over the past five years for provider-owned and affiliated health plans. These plans increased total administrative spending in aggregate 54.7% over the past five years from $2.32 billion in 2001 to $3.59 billion at year-end 2005.
Date: 1/22/2007    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 4
Capital & Surplus, Top Provider-Owned Health Plans--2005: The profitability of provider-owned or affiliated health plans deteriorated slightly in 2005 from prior years. The capital base continued to strengthen, but at a slower pace.
Date: 11/13/2006    Source: Statistical Studies (PDF)     Pages: 3
Provider-Owned and Affiliated Managed Care Companies Maintain Conservative Investments : Provider-owned and affiliated managed care companies continue to maintain conservative invested asset portfolios. The majority of these companies' invested assets were in cash and short-term investments during 2005. Of the 109 companies included in the study, the average allocation to this investment class was 46%.
Date: 10/2/2006    Source: Special Reports (PDF)     Pages: 8
Provider-Owned HMOs Continue Modest Profit Growth: Provider-owned health maintenance organizations (HMOs) improved profit margins and strengthened their capital base in 2004. Similar to the rest of the sector, profits benefited from accommodative pricing and a stable cost trend.
Date: 11/14/2005    Source: Statistical Studies (PDF)     Pages: 4

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