Health maintenance organizations had a year of growth in Orange County.
The eight HMOs on the Business Journal’s annual list combined for 1,256,339 local members, up nearly 2% compared to last year’s 1,233,377.
HMOs on the list are ranked by local membership numbers.
Four plans say they increased membership, while one plan’s numbers declined. Three HMO enrollment figures are Business Journal estimates.
• Kaiser Permanente once again led the county’s HMO pack.
The Oakland-based nonprofit said it had 480,000 enrollees in OC, up 2% from a year ago.
Kaiser has had fast growth in recent years. To deal with the growth, it opened a pair of hospitals in Anaheim and Irvine, in addition to several medical offices throughout the county.
• Anthem Blue Cross, a unit of Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., ranked No. 2 with an estimated 290,000 members.
• Blue Shield of California, which is based in San Francisco, followed at No. 3 with an estimated 170,000 members.
• The list’s No. 4 plan was Health Net of California, which is based in Woodland Hills. Health Net’s OC membership rose 9% to 121,000.
Health Net said the growth came from its community care HMO, part of Covered California.
• Cypress-based UnitedHealthcare of California landed at No. 5 on this year’s list. United’s membership was essentially flat at 94,900 members.
• The Business Journal estimates Aetna Inc.’s membership at 60,582, placing the plan in the No. 6 spot.
• No. 7 Long Beach-based Scan Health Plan posted the largest membership growth. Scan, which serves Medicare beneficiaries, saw its membership grow 15% to 24,542.
Sherry Stanislaw, senior vice president and general manager for Scan’s Southern California region, said the plan recorded its highest number of new members in the OC Medicare Advantage market during its annual enrollment period.
“We attribute this growth to very competitive benefits and products,” Stanislaw said in a news release.
She also cited quality ratings, doctor and hospital networks, and “consistently strong customer satisfaction levels.”
• Cigna Healthcare, a unit of Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna Corp., rounded out the list at 15,315 members, up 2% from a year ago.
PPO Directory
Preferred provider plans in the Business Journal’s unranked directory combined for a 3% local membership decline to 718,938.
Five of the PPOs provided enrollment figures to the Business Journal, while information on the other four plans are estimates.
PPOs usually cost more than HMOs but allow patients more options and flexibility in using healthcare services.
They had been gaining enrollment at the expense of HMOs during the past decade or so, particularly when the economy was
strong and businesses were more likely to use benefits as a way to attract and retain employees.
• UnitedHealthcare said it had 121,400 members in OC, down 5% from a year ago.
• Cigna Healthcare said its local PPO membership totaled 63,560.
• The Business Journal estimates Anthem Blue Cross’ PPO membership at 290,000, making it the largest PPO in the directory.
