HMSA reports $32M loss in Q3
Written on November 18, 2009
The Hawaii Medical Service Association lost $32 million in the third quarter — a result of continued hits from rising health-care costs and declining investment income.
It lost approximately $19 million during the same period last year.
The state’s largest health plan collected $411.1 million in premiums in the third quarter and paid out $403.9 million in benefits and health-care services.
By comparison, HMSA collected $389.8 million and paid out $371.7 million in benefit expenses during the same period in 2008.
Administrative expenses totaled $39.2 million for the third quarter, up from $37 million last year.
At the same time, HMSA’s investment income continued to take hits in the recession, totaling $7.9 million for the quarter. That’s a 66 percent drop from the $23 million in investment income during the third quarter of 2008.
So far this year, HMSA has lost a total of $53.7 million in investment income direct lender payday loans.
HMSA Chief Financial Officer Steve Van Ribbink said 98 cents of every dollar collected in member dues is used to cover health-care costs, which continue to rise at a brisk pace.
“This provides a tremendous value for members and providers, but it does not leave enough to cover operating costs without using investment income and funds from the HMSA reserve,” he said in a prepared statement.
Van Ribbink said the health plan has increased its payments to hospitals, physicians and health-care providers, who were paid an average of $134.6 million a month in the third quarter.
The nonprofit HMSA, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, has a total of 682,383 members statewide. That’s down from the 700,556 members it had at the end of the second quarter.
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