Humana Exiting the Medical Insurance Market in 2024 - What This Means for You and the Industry

Wow, what a couple of weeks it’s been. Humana, a key insurance provider (especially in the state of Texas) just bowed out of the of the employer-sponsored medical insurance industry, with plans to be completely done by the end of 2024. If your company is currently with Humana, don’t worry. There’s no immediate action that needs to be taken and they will renew your group for another year. This gives us plenty of time to strategize on the next move that’s best for you and your company. But before we talk strategy/challenges/opportunities, let’s reflect on how this will affect the employer-sponsored medical industry as a whole.

**to my California/New Mexico/Arizona/Utah Last Mile Clients, this doesn't affect you near as much as it does Texans, so view this as a purely informative article**

One Less Medical Insurance Provider

Relatively speaking, the top Texas providers in the small-group, employer-sponsored medical insurance market are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, and Humana. If you’re an employer in Texas with less than 50 employees, these are likely the companies you’ve worked with. Each medical insurance provider has different guidelines and plan structures, and taking one out of the mix lessens the opportunity for competition and creativity with existing and especially new (virgin) groups. Humana was a great partner that took care of their employers/members, so what happened?

What We Do Know

Humana was actively focused on growth these past 3-5 years and had been aggressively underwriting groups with fantastic premiums and plan structures. So much so that if a group received an approved, underwritten quote, it was typically 30-40% cheaper than the next best option.

What We Don't Know

Why not gradually increase the premiums instead of leaving the medical insurance world completely? It’s truly a mystery with little to no explanation, but there’s no use crying over spilt milk. It’s time for Grove & Davis Last Mile (GDLM) to find the next best opportunity for you and your employees.

Moving Forward

At GDLM we do everything with a strategy and purpose, and although losing the partnership with Humana was unexpected, we have a unique opportunity and time-block to review every option available. We already have multiple irons in the fire to address this change and have the potential to not only address Humana’s exit, but improve options for our current clients as well as contractors looking to get medical insurance in the future.

We appreciate and honor the trust you put in our agency, and in these times of change we look forward to working for you and finding the new opportunities ahead.  

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Helpful Articles:

Humana to Exit Employer Group Commercial Medical Products Business

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Questions? Contact Me:

Schuyler Moore: smoore@grovedavisins.com

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