Fierce Healthcare August 5, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the strengths of Medicare Advantage, Humana executives said Wednesday.
CEO Bruce Broussard told investors on the insurer’s quarterly earnings call that the flexibility available in MA to be “highly innovative” helped these organizations react more quickly as the novel coronavirus began to spread stateside in the spring.
“Medicare Advantage plans were some of the first organizations to proactively identify and implement policy and benefit changes at the outset of the pandemic,” Broussard said.
For example, MA plans can offer a laundry list of supplemental benefits targeting the social determinants of health, which was key in a COVID-19 response, he said. Humana began direct outreach to members early on to gauge their needs amid social distancing,...