The health insurer's quarterly profit, however, only narrowly beat estimates as medical costs were slightly higher than expectations. Centene, which earns a significant part of its revenue through government-backed Medicaid plans for low-income people, is "less exposed" to increased medical care utilization by older adults through Medicare Advantage compared to other health insurers, analysts say.
Vanita Singh (vanita.singh@mdi.ac.in) teaches economics and public policy at the Management Development Institute, Gurugram. Amit Garg teaches in the Public Systems Group at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.