KENNEBUNK, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Second graph, fourth sentence of release dated March 7, 2012 should read: Should Express Scripts' acquisition of Medco Health Solutions be approved, the combined entity would have nearly 1.7 million PDP members. (sted: Should Medco Health Solutions’ acquisition of Express Scripts be approved, then Medco will add another 500,000 PDP members).
The corrected release reads:
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS SHAKE UP PDP LEADER BOARD ACCORDING TO MARK FARRAH ASSOCIATES
Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) reports mergers and acquisitions (M&A), along with a dynamic competitive environment, have altered the list of top Medicare Part D, stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) in 2012. UnitedHealth with 4.2 million PDP subscribers continues to lead the market in terms of overall membership. It serves 21.5% of all PDP enrollees, down from 26% one year ago. Four additional companies covered more than 1 million PDP members each as of February 2012: CVS Caremark, Humana, Coventry and Medco Health Solutions. MFA analyzed market share for PDPs in the U.S. in a recent Healthcare Business Strategy release.
MFA noted that consolidation is increasing competition among the leading plans. CVS Caremark’s acquisition of Universal American’s PDP business in April 2011 propelled it to second place based on membership among all PDP organizations. If CVS’ acquisition of Health Net’s PDP business is approved, then the company will pick up an additional 421,000 members. Should Express Scripts' acquisition of Medco Health Solutions be approved, the combined entity would have nearly 1.7 million PDP members. CIGNA, which currently ranks 8th in the PDP market, announced acquisition plans for 7th place HealthSpring, during the first half of 2012. CIGNA combined with HealthSpring, which acquired Bravo Health’s PDP business in 2010, would have more than 1.2 million PDP members as of February 2012. Additional Medicare Advantage and PDP plan mergers and acquisitions are being negotiated so other plans may join the ranks of the top plans soon. MFA found there are currently 69 organizations competing in this segment as of February 2012; if most of the announced mergers are approved there could be significantly fewer plans in 2013.
In the latest Healthcare Business Strategy report, MFA aggregated and analyzed enrollment data for all PDPs nationwide. To read the full text of “M&A Activity Shakes Up PDP Leader Board,” visit the Healthcare Business Strategy library on Mark Farrah Associates’ website www.markfarrah.com.
About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)
MFA is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Committed to simplifying analysis of health insurance business, our products include Health Coverage Portal™, Health Insurer Insights™, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, Health Plans USA™ and the new County Health Coverage™.