(Reuters) -Centene Corp on Friday raised its full-year earnings forecast, expecting higher premium collections this year from its government-backed Medicaid plans as well as its commercial health insurance business.
The health insurer also beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, helped by strong membership growth in the commercial marketplace business even as redeterminations in Medicaid memberships hurt.
Medicaid memberships were expected to be hit by the removal of pandemic-related relief measures, as several members who had signed up for the government-aided plans under the relief measures became ineligible from April 1.
Centene’s commercial plans saw a 62% jump in memberships to 3.73 million as of June 30, while total memberships for Medicaid insurance plans rose nearly 4% year-on-year to 16 million.
The company increased its 2023 premium and services revenue forecast range by $1.8 billion to $137 billion -$139 billion, and its 2023 full-year adjusted profit forecast by 5 cents to at least $6.45 per share.Excluding items, Centene earned $2.10 per share in the second quarter, above Refinitiv IBES estimates of $2.03.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
