Humana to expand Medicare Advantage business despite cuts

Despite recent proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage, Humana's chief executive plans to continue growing its business in the private program as it has helped drive the insurer's revenue.

Medicare business, including the popular Medicare Advantage program, has contributed to Human's threefold revenue increase, including adding more than $9 billion to its value, over the last 10 years. In 2012, Humana made about $25 billion, accounting for 64 percent of its revenue, from Medicare Advantage, reported the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Humana CEO Bruce Broussard said his company will continue that upward trend, even in the face of continued cuts to Medicare Advantage, the most recent of which led to a downturn in Humana's stocks, FierceHealthPayer previously reported.

"I don't want to make light of that; it does put challenges on the organization," Broussard told the Courier-Journal.

But, he continued, the Medicare Advantage program remains "a blueprint for the future of healthcare," because it encourages insurers care for the "whole person" and prevents unnecessary spending.

"What we see is a transformation from being in 'sick care,' so to speak, to being all-around health (care)," Broussard told the newspaper.

To learn more:
- read the Louisville Courier-Journal article