It's a year of reinvention

You have reinvented your business for 2014, and here at Managed Healthcare Executive, we’ve done the same. As I’m sure you’ve already noticed, we’ve deployed our talent and resources to offer you a new design presentation for our print issues.

With a distinct business-oriented character, the look and feel of our must-read articles, industry intelligence, statistics and commentary from the front lines of managed care have evolved to reflect the industry attitude. We’re bringing you more quick reads, trends and take-away messages.

Plus, our print, digital and online spaces will continue to be packed with information and analysis that you can’t get anywhere else. The free MHE app now includes more clickable features as well as snapshots of what you absolutely need to know.

As you navigate through the new era of health system transformation, your interaction with your peers, thought leaders and industry observers will be invaluable. Let us be your channel of interaction to chew over trends and share success stories. We’re anxious to bring all of our readers into the MHE discussion in blogs and features in 2014. It’s easy to be a voice in the number-one*, award-winning publication in the managed care space.

New era, new challenges

No doubt you’re deploying your resources, too, to capitalize on opportunities related to health reform this year. With 45 million uninsured and many of them projected to enter the health insurance market, there are growth opportunities for large and small plans.

Based on estimates created by Value Penguin, a consumer insurance and finance website, the uninsured are worth a potential $92 billion in annual premiums-paid by the enrollees and the federal government in the form of subsidies. After subtracting for the medical-loss ratio (MLR), what remains is just over $18.4 billion allocated to administrative expenses, marketing, overhead and profits.

Value Penguin also estimates a 2% to 4% profit margin on premiums, equating to $1.8 billion to $3.6 billion going to the bottom line. And this is only related to the newly insured entering the market. Your potential could be higher.

Health plans have hovered around 5% margins overall, however, is that MLRs have normalized profits among all types of plans, and the spread between top performers and bottom performers is narrowing.

Leading through market changes is ultimately about making the best possible decisions with the information you have at the time-and having a back up plan. No doubt 2014 will be a year of smart decisions and nimble readjustments.

*Kantar Media, 2012, Table 101, Average Issue Readers, among 14 publications measured