Wayne Deveydt on healthcare reform
From Deveydt Says Health-Care Overhaul Will Benefit WellPoint · · Bloomberg Originals
“I think ultimately for WellPoint scale is going to matter. If you can have scale which creates a low-cost product you'll be a net winner in this environment and we think for our size—having one in nine Americans today—we'll be a net taker and yes it will be good for us.”
On , Wayne Deveydt, Chief Financial Officer at UnitedHealth Group, spoke about healthcare reform during Deveydt Says Health-Care Overhaul Will Benefit WellPoint on Bloomberg Originals.
About Wayne Deveydt
In a 2011 interview, Wayne Deveydt, then CFO of WellPoint, discussed the company's financial performance and strategy. He stated that investors initially focused on non-recurring charges in the fourth quarter, but later recognized the company had "beat consensus quite handily." Deveydt noted that WellPoint exited its non-Blue Cross states in 2010 by selling its UniCare brand, a decision he said was driven by the belief that health reform would make concentrated market share more critical. He added that, excluding that sale, the company grew in all its markets in 2010 and expected commercial enrollment growth in 2011, including net new growth exceeding 350,000 members from large national accounts. Deveydt also addressed the impact of the U.S. health-care overhaul. He said that scale would be important for success, stating, "If you can have scale which creates a low-cost product you'll be a net winner in this environment." He expressed support for mechanisms to bring healthy individuals into the insurance pool, such as mandates, saying, "It is imperative though that if you're going to allow individuals to access the market freely that you have to have a mechanism to try to get as many healthy lives into that pool to be able to spread those costs across." Deveydt indicated WellPoint would continue to seek acquisitions, particularly of Blue plans and smaller in-state players.