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Indianapolis-based health benefits giant WellPoint hopes to be a big winner under the Affordable Care Act, and early results are promising, company officials said Wednesday.

Top executives told investors that WellPoint is gaining more customers than expected as people sign up for ­insurance on the health exchanges ­created by the law. And the new customers’ health status appears to be in line with expectations.

That means the cost to provide them health coverage will match company projections. And it reduces the chances that the company will raise rates significantly next year.

“We do feel good about what we’ve seen thus far on the exchanges,” WellPoint CEO Joseph R. Swedish told ­investors in a conference call Wednesday. “It’s still early, but our preliminary data is certainly reinforcing our confidence in the strategy that we’ve implemented.”

WellPoint, which already had the most customers on the individual market, is hoping to grab the biggest share of the estimated 7 million Americans who may buy insurance through the exchanges.

It is selling plans in 14 states, including Indiana, where it already covers the majority of those who buy insurance on their own instead of getting it through an employer or government program.

Of the 500,000 people who have ­applied for individual policies with the company, about 80 percent are new to WellPoint. The company doesn’t know, however, how many previously lacked insurance or are just switching providers.

About two-thirds of the applicants have been eligible for federal subsidies to lower their premiums.

Data are still coming in on the demographics of those buying insurance. Insurers need a mix of healthy and sick patients in each market to keep rates from rising too much.

In setting prices for 2014, insurers had to guess the mix of customers in a changed market, while also trying to offer competitive rates through a system that would make it much easier for cus­tomers to compare plans and costs.

WellPoint expected that it would lose some of its healthier customers while gaining sicker ones. The company priced its plans that are sold off and on the exchange accordingly, even if that meant it didn’t have the lowest price in some markets, said Chief Financial Officer Wayne Deveydt.

The average age of the new customers is close to what WellPoint projected. Other early data on customer demographics, plans chosen most often and pharmaceutical bills submitted are in line with projections.

WellPoint also expects to benefit from the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid. In 2012, it purchased Amerigroup Corp., which specializes in providing Medicaid coverage for states.

Deveydt said the early numbers on Medicaid enrollment are encouraging and probably larger than many had expected. http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/29/wellpoint-sees-
obamacare-strategy-paying-off/5037725/

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WellPoint Inc. (WLP), the second-biggest U.S. medical insurer, has added 500,000 members since Obamacare enrollment began and said the system’s early stumbles haven’t dimmed profit estimates, boosting the company’s shares.

While the new members tend to be older and sicker than current enrollees, WellPoint priced its plans accordingly and isn’t backing off projected profit margins, Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish told analysts today on a conference call.

While it’s still early, enrollment so far is “very consistent with our expectations,” Swedish said on the call. “We do feel good about what we’ve seen thus far in the exchanges.”

The Indianapolis-based insurer, which runs Blue Cross plans in 14 states, reiterated a profit forecast of more than $8 a share this year. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/wellpoint-profit-slips-as-ins
urer-unloads-1-800-contacts-unit.html

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