J. Mario Molina, MD, president and CEO of Long Beach, Calif.-based Molina Healthcare, is speaking out against the American Health Care Act, saying the law will have major consequences for the tumultuous payer industry, according to The New York Times.
Here are five points:
1. Unlike many other payer executives opting to stay silent, Dr. Molina is speaking to legislators in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country about how payers would fare under the AHCA.
2. Dr. Molina told the NYT, "I think many in the industry are afraid." He said he chose to out and speak to legislators after a friend told him that he needed to say how the law would impact the industry.
3. Molina signed up almost 1 million new customers under the ACA and increasing its revenue by more than 50 percent in the last three years to almost $18 million. Molina has also offered plans in 12 states and Puerto Rico.
4. Dr. Molina said the payer may stop offering coverage on the individual market due to healthcare's uncertain future. Since its 2016 results, the payer's stock has dropped nearly 25 percent. Dr. Molina said the payer lost millions last year due to "flawed federal funding formulas," the NYT reports.
5. Molina's departure could impact an already unstable market as other leading payers exited the ACA exchanges. Louisville, Ky.-based Humana previously announced it was fully leaving the individual marketplaces in 2018.