Healthcare Insights
Largest healthcare insurance companies by incurred claims
Hospital revenue sources breakdown into a payor mix of private insurance companies and government insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
The percentage of the total payor mix from private/self-pay revenue reached 68% in 2021, reflecting market dynamics like private insurance companies compensating hospitals at a higher rate than government programs and increasing Medicare Advantage enrollment.
How is the size of health insurance companies measured?
Some of the main figures to measure and compare the size of health insurance companies include:
- Annual revenue
- Member enrollment or covered lives
- Claims volumes and total values
- Premiums earned
Different health insurance companies are the largest based on the different metrics. For example, UnitedHealthcare has the highest revenue among health insurance companies while Kaiser Permanente Health Plans has the highest covered lives.
The Definitive Healthcare ConnectedCareView product tracks key metrics on over 1,200 payor and payor subsidiary organizations. Financial data for health insurance payors is sourced from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Consumer Information and Oversight (CCIIO) Medical Loss Ratio reports for calendar year 2021, the most recent data available.
What are total incurred claims?
The total incurred claims metric in ConnectedCareView represents direct claims paid to or received by physicians and other clinical providers, including under capitation contracts with those providers, whose services are covered by the policy for clinical services or supplies covered by the policy.
The following list highlights the largest 20 payors (excluding payor subsidiaries) based on total incurred claims for calendar year 2021, the most recent full year of data available.
Rank | Definitive ID | Payor name | State | Total incurred claims | Covered lives | Explore dataset |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 583130 | Kaiser Permanente Health Plans | CA | $50,868,696,538 | 9,245,150 | Explore |
2 | 575957 | Elevance Health (FKA Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield) | IN | $35,126,914,250 | 6,401,147 | Explore |
3 | 583151 | UnitedHealthcare (AKA UnitedHealth Group) | MN | $33,262,198,160 | 7,177,594 | Explore |
4 | 853221 | Health Care Service Corporation Group | IL | $30,978,958,781 | 5,180,391 | Explore |
5 | 552479 | Guidewell Mutual Holding Group (FKA Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida) | FL | $16,266,643,959 | 2,489,533 | Explore |
6 | 575895 | Centene Corporation | MO | $14,433,366,182 | 2,603,146 | Explore |
7 | 552477 | Blue Shield of California | CA | $13,902,139,597 | 2,498,551 | Explore |
8 | 552436 | Cigna Healthcare (FKA Cigna) | CT | $13,635,233,838 | 2,339,657 | Explore |
9 | 552393 | Aetna | CT | $12,942,560,236 | 2,417,163 | Explore |
10 | 575917 | CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield | MD | $7,718,169,035 | 1,381,774 | Explore |
11 | 552480 | Highmark | PA | $7,252,547,816 | 1,273,066 | Explore |
12 | 552472 | BlueCross BlueShield of Michigan Group | MI | $7,244,595,890 | 1,470,811 | Explore |
13 | 1041823 | BlueCross Blue Shield of NC Group | NC | $6,609,474,878 | 1,019,222 | Explore |
14 | 553215 | Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey | NJ | $5,805,644,169 | 811,410 | Explore |
15 | 575753 | BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts Group | MA | $5,715,471,268 | 873,838 | Explore |
16 | 1057866 | BlueCross BlueShield of Alabama Group | AL | $5,258,149,835 | 952,089 | Explore |
17 | 577321 | Tufts Health Plan of Point32Health (FKA Healthcare Holdings - Tufts Health Plan) | MA | $4,367,303,095 | 726,710 | Explore |
18 | 1061661 | Independence Health Group Inc | PA | $3,993,196,060 | 819,444 | Explore |
19 | 829067 | Cambia Health Solutions | OR | $3,966,733,964 | 800,042 | Explore |
20 | 552481 | Humana Group | KY | $3,853,569,794 | 674,480 | Explore |
What is the largest healthcare payor by incurred claims?
Kaiser Permanente Health Plans had the highest incurred claims at more than $51 billion. Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. and predominately based in the western U.S. with many hospitals in California. The state’s high population likely contributes to the high patient count for the health plans. Kaiser Permanente operates a unique model in which they offer patient care services in addition to health insurance coverage.
Elevance Health (formerly known as Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield) had $35 billion in incurred claims, followed by UnitedHealthcare, with $32 billion in total incurred claims reported.
Learn more
Healthcare Insights are developed with healthcare commercial intelligence from the Definitive Healthcare platform. Want even more insights? Start a free trial now and get access to the latest healthcare commercial intelligence on hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare providers.