Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Sarah M. London: Yes. Thanks, Michael. So of the 386,000 in the quarter, it’s not a perfect science to figure out exactly which are coming through pure enrollment growth versus those coming over from redeterminations. We’re obviously able to track those who are moving from a Centene plan to a Centene plan. And then we extrapolate based on the data that we are seeing based on the data that CMS is publishing and then in cases where we can specifically identify which of those members are coming over from a competitor. So not entirely clear that we can, again, sort of dissect that membership as you talked about. In California, I think what we’re seeing in California is actually consistent with what you see across the entire country, if you take a step back and the fact that the two key cut points that were put in place this year were tougher in those middle ranges of star ratings and particularly trimmed the outliers as we all know.

And so that was part of what happened in California. But I think it’s too early what impact that will have in terms of overall competitive outcomes through the AEP process because we’re only about 10 days into that, but certainly look forward to updating everybody on that at Investor Day. And then relative to stars and value-based arrangements, again, we’re still in that high 40% range from a value-based care standpoint, and it is a mix of upside only and upside downside risk. And you’re right, as we move members into more downside risk arrangements, we get tighter alignment between us and the providers. We lead to better HEDIS outcomes in terms of getting members in addressing gaps in care. And we know that there’s a direct correlation between members who access care and their ultimate CAP scores.

And so that has been a huge focus for us in general, but obviously, a leverage point where we can use our provider partnerships to help accelerate that work, particularly on our Stars improvement journey.

Operator: Thank you. And today’s final question comes from Calvin Sternick with J.P. Morgan. Please go ahead.

Calvin Sternick: Thanks for the questions. A couple of clarifications. So first, on the 1/1/2024 rate update, I think you said so far some of the states are including acuity adjusters. Just to be clear, is the expectation of the rest of that 1/1 cohort will also provide acuity adjusters? And then second, I think in the past, you’ve talked about the percent of 0 and low utilizers being up only marginally. Does that fully normalize back to the historical range or is there still some room for that to work its way down? Thanks.

Drew Asher: Yes. We do expect. Other than one state where we’re only LTSS which is an exception, obviously, relative to redeterminations, the answer is yes to your first question. And then you’re right, we’re still shifting during this intermediate time period of getting to a post redetermination environment from the pre and the pre-redetermination environment, the 0 utilizers were up for the expansion population. They’re actually down and CHIP and TANF, as you’re recalling correctly, was flat. So we’re moving through that process, refreshing data. But that’s sort of — we’re in between the pre and the post redetermination phase, so that will shift throughout that time period.

Operator: Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the question-and-answer session. I’d like to turn the conference back over to Sarah London for any closing remarks.

Sarah M. London: Thanks, Rocco. As we close out this morning, I’d just like to thank our more than 66,000 employees for delivering excellent results this quarter and year-to-date. As a company, we remain focused on our mission and on creating value for our members, our stakeholders, and our shareholders. We appreciate the time and interest this morning and look forward to continuing this discussion at our upcoming Investor Day in December. Thanks, everybody.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today’s conference call. We thank you all for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

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