HMSA Finishes Q1 with $7.2M Profit

HMSA works with a variety of Hawaii Healthcare providers. Photo courtesy of Maui County Office on Aging.

By Sonia Isotov

The Hawai‘i Medical Service Association (HMSA) announced yesterday that it earned a first quarter profit of $12.8 million, a steep increase from one year ago when it profited $8.4 million during the same period.

HMSA also saw an operating gain for the first quarter of 2012 of $7.2 million. This is 1.2% of the $614.5 million in dues the health plan earned. After adding investment and other income and deducting taxes, HMSA’s total gain for the quarter was $12.8 million, or 2.1% of dues collected.

The health plan paid $554.9 million or 90.3% of dues directly to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other health care professionals in the quarter. Administrative costs were $52.3 million, representing 8.5% of dues.

HMSA ended the quarter with 701,431 members. Of this membership, 693,897 are covered by medical plans insured by HMSA. This represents an increase of 111,985 members, or 19.2%, over the 578,539 members insured by HMSA as compared to the same quarter one year ago.

The increase stems largely from the conversion of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefit Trust Fund’s membership from self-funded medical plans to HMSA insured plans on Jan. 1, 2012.

The health plan also experienced increases in dues revenue and expenses in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of last year principally from the large membership increase in HMSA’s insured medical plans.