Humana Reports Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results; Raises Full Year 2018 Adjusted EPS Guidance

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today reported consolidated pretax income and diluted earnings per common share (EPS) for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 (3Q18) versus the quarter ended September 30, 2017 (3Q17) and for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 (YTD 2018) versus the nine months ended September 30, 2017 (YTD 2017) as follows:

GAAP and Adjusted pretax income and EPS results for 3Q18 and YTD 2018, in each case, exceeded management’s expectations, led by strong Medicare Advantage membership growth, continued lower inpatient medical utilization partially offset by higher outpatient spending in the Retail segment, higher favorable prior period medical claims reserve development (Prior Period Development), and significant operating efficiencies YTD 2018 driven by productivity initiatives implemented in 2017. In addition, the company continues to benefit from a lower tax rate year-over-year as a result of the Tax Reform Law enacted in the fourth quarter of 2017, allowing it to invest pretax dollars in its employees, the communities of its members, technology and its integrated care delivery model to drive more affordable healthcare and better clinical outcomes. Year-over-year comparisons continue to be impacted by the return of the health insurer fee in 2018; enhanced 2018 Medicare Advantage member benefits resulting from the investment of the better than expected 2017 individual Medicare Advantage pretax earnings; and the more severe flu season in 2018. EPS results were further impacted by a lower number of shares in 2018, primarily reflecting share repurchases. Please refer to the consolidated and segment highlights sections that follow for additional discussion of the factors impacting year-over-year results.

“As we enter the fourth quarter, we are encouraged by our performance this year, with adjusted EPS growth in excess of 20 percent. In addition to focusing on core earnings growth, we continue to improve our quality and customer experience. Evidence of progress in these areas include our Star Ratings and our recent recognition by JD Power as #1 in customer satisfaction for US mail order pharmacies,” said Bruce D. Broussard, Humana’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Noteworthy also is the positive response to our Medicare Advantage offerings for 2019 as nearly all of our members will experience stable or enhanced benefits. Early indicators from the Annual Election Period reflect member and broker excitement and we are expecting strong individual Medicare Advantage growth in 2019.”

2018 Earnings Guidance

Humana today raised its Adjusted EPS guidance for the year ending December 31, 2018 (FY18). The company now expects GAAP EPS of approximately $11.96, an increase from the previous guidance of $11.52, while FY18 Adjusted EPS guidance was increased to approximately $14.40 from its previous guidance of approximately $14.15.

“Strong top and bottom line growth in 2018, fueled by solid execution, is paving the way for compelling performance in 2019,” said Brian A. Kane, Chief Financial Officer. “We are pleased with the initial positive response to our individual Medicare Advantage offerings for 2019. Meaningful tailwinds, including tax reform and the health insurance industry fee moratorium for 2019, allowed us to invest in benefits for our members and offer competitive Medicare Advantage products which are expected to drive significant membership growth and a year-over-year Adjusted EPS increase in excess of our long-term growth target.”

A reconciliation of GAAP to Adjusted EPS for the company’s FY18 projections as well as comparable numbers for the year ended December 31, 2017 (FY17) is shown below for comparison.

Star Quality Ratings

As previously disclosed, in October 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its updated Star quality ratings for bonus year 2020. Humana received a 5-star rating on CMS’s 5-star rating system for two Medicare Advantage (MA) contracts offered in Florida and Tennessee. In addition, Humana received a 4.5-star rating for two MA contracts offered in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oregon. Humana has 12 contracts rated 4-star or above and 3 million members in 4-star or above rated contracts to be offered in 2019, representing 84% of the company’s MA membership as of July 2018. The achievement of a 5-star rating for two MA contracts in Florida and Tennessee provides Humana the ability to market these contracts throughout the year, creating an opportunity for increased penetration in these important geographies.

Detailed Press Release

Humana’s full earnings press release including the statistical pages has been posted to the company’s Investor Relations site and may be accessed at https://humana.gcs-web.com/or via a current report on Form 8-K filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning (available at www.sec.gov or on the company’s website).

Conference Call

Humana will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. eastern time today to discuss its financial results for the quarter and the company’s expectations for future earnings.

All parties interested in the audio only portion of the company’s 3Q18 earnings conference call are invited to dial 888-625-7430. No password is required. The audio-only webcast of the 3Q18 earnings call may be accessed via Humana’s Investor Relations page at humana.com. The company suggests participants for both the conference call and those listening via the web dial in or sign on at least 15 minutes in advance of the call.

For those unable to participate in the live event, the archive will be available in the Historical Webcasts and Presentations section of the Investor Relations page at humana.com, approximately two hours following the live webcast. Telephone replays will also be available approximately two hours following the live event until midnight eastern time on January 7, 2019 and can be accessed by dialing 855-859-2056 and providing the conference ID #7878047.

Footnotes

(a) 3Q18 Adjusted results exclude the following:

• Favorable adjustment to the previously recognized loss associated with the company’s sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, KMG America Corporation (KMG) of approximately $4 million pretax, or $0.02 per diluted common share. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax and EPS.
• Put/call valuation adjustments of approximately $11 million, or $0.06 per diluted common share, associated with Humana’s 40% minority interest in Kindred at Home. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax and EPS.
• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $19 million pretax income, or $0.11 per diluted common share; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax, EPS, and segment earnings (for respective amortization expense for the Retail and Group and Specialty segments).
• Segment earnings of $5 million, or $0.03 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, consolidated revenues, consolidated benefit ratio and consolidated operating cost ratio.
• Adjustment of $0.19 per diluted common share related to provisional estimates for the income tax effects related to the Tax Reform Law. The only GAAP measure affected in this release is EPS.

(b) 3Q17 Adjusted results exclude the following:

• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $18 million pretax, or $0.07 per diluted common share; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax, EPS, and segment earnings (for respective amortization expense for the Retail and Group and Specialty segments).
• The one‐year beneficial effect of a lower effective tax rate of approximately $0.55 per diluted common share in light of pricing and benefit design assumptions associated with the 2017 temporary suspension of the non‐deductible health insurance industry fee; excludes Individual Commercial business impact. The only GAAP measure affected in this release is EPS.
• Segment earnings of $26 million, or $0.11 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s planned exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, consolidated revenues, consolidated benefit ratio and consolidated operating cost ratio.
• Expense of approximately $124 million pretax, or $0.54 per diluted common share, associated with voluntary and involuntary workforce reduction programs; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax, EPS, and consolidated operating cost ratio.

(c) YTD 2018 Adjusted results exclude the following:

• Loss of approximately $786 million pretax, or $2.57 per diluted common share, associated with the company’s sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, KMG. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax and EPS.
• Put/call valuation adjustments of approximately $11 million, or $0.06 per diluted common share, associated with Humana’s 40% minority interest in Kindred at Home. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax and EPS.
• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $70 million pretax, or $0.39 per diluted common share; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, and segment earnings (for respective amortization expense for the Retail and Group and Specialty segments).
• Segment earnings of approximately $76 million, or $0.42 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, consolidated revenues, consolidated benefit ratio and consolidated operating cost ratio.
• Adjustment of $0.28 per diluted common share related to provisional estimates for the income tax effects related to the Tax Reform Law. The only GAAP measure affected in this release is EPS.

(d) YTD 2017 Adjusted results exclude the following:

• Net gain from the termination of the merger agreement of approximately $947 million pretax, or $4.33 per diluted common share; includes the net break‐up fee and transaction costs net of the tax benefit associated with certain expenses which were previously non‐deductible; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income and EPS.
• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $54 million pretax, or $0.23 per diluted common share; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax, EPS, and segment earnings (for respective amortization expense for the Retail and Group and Specialty segments).
• Segment earnings of approximately $207 million, or $0.89 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s planned exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed. GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, consolidated revenues, consolidated benefit ratio and consolidated operating cost ratio.
• Expense of approximately $124 million pretax, or $0.54 per diluted common share, associated with voluntary and involuntary workforce reduction programs; GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax, EPS, and consolidated operating cost ratio.
• Guaranty fund assessment expense of approximately $54 million pretax, or $0.23 per diluted common share, to support the policy-holder obligations of Penn Treaty (an unaffiliated long‐term care insurance company); GAAP measures affected in this release include consolidated pretax income, EPS, and consolidated operating costs ratio. Under state guaranty assessment laws, the company may be assessed (up to prescribed limits) for certain obligations to the policyholders and claimants of insolvent insurance companies that write the same line or lines of business as the company. On March 1, 2017, a court ordered the liquidation of Penn Treaty which triggered assessments from the state guaranty associations.
• The one‐year beneficial effect of a lower effective tax rate of approximately $1.60 per diluted common share in light of pricing and benefit design assumptions associated with the 2017 temporary suspension of the non‐deductible health insurance industry fee; excludes Individual Commercial business impact. The only GAAP measure affected in this release is EPS.

(e) FY18 Adjusted EPS projections exclude the following:

• Loss of approximately $2.58 per diluted common share associated with the company’s sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, KMG America Corporation (KMG).
• Put/call valuation adjustments of approximately $0.06 per diluted common share, associated with Humana’s 40% minority interest in Kindred at Home. FY18 GAAP EPS guidance excludes the impact of future value changes of the Kindred at Home put/call option.
• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $0.49 per diluted common share.
• Segment earnings of approximately $0.41 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed.
• Adjustment of $0.28 per diluted common share related to provisional estimates for the income tax effects related to the Tax Reform Law.

(f) FY17 Adjusted results exclude the following:

• Net gain from the termination of the merger agreement of approximately $936 million pretax, or $4.31 per diluted common share; includes the net break-up fee and transaction costs net of the tax benefit associated with certain expenses which were previously non-deductible.
• The one-year beneficial effect of a lower effective tax rate of approximately $2.15 per diluted common share in light of pricing and benefit design assumptions associated with the 2017 temporary suspension of the non-deductible health insurance industry fee; excludes Individual Commercial segment impact.
• The impact of approximately $0.92 per diluted common share associated with the re-measurement of deferred tax assets at lower corporate tax rates under the Tax Reform Law.
• Expense of approximately $148 million pretax, or $0.64 per diluted common share, associated with voluntary and involuntary workforce reduction programs.
• Guaranty fund assessment expense of approximately $54 million pretax, or $0.24 per diluted common share, to support the policyholder obligations of Penn Treaty (an unaffiliated long-term care insurance company). Under state guaranty assessment laws, the company may be assessed (up to prescribed limits) for certain obligations to the policyholders and claimants of insolvent insurance companies that write the same line or lines of business as the company. On March 1, 2017, a court ordered the liquidation of Penn Treaty which triggered assessments from the state guaranty associations.
• Expense of approximately $17 million pretax, or $0.08 per diluted common share, associated with early retirement of debt in the fourth quarter of 2017.
• Amortization expense for identifiable intangibles of approximately $75 million pretax, or $0.32 per diluted common share.
• Segment earnings of approximately $193 million pretax, or $0.84 per diluted common share, for the company’s Individual Commercial segment given the company’s exit on January 1, 2018, as previously disclosed.

Cautionary Statement

This news release includes forward-looking statements regarding Humana within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in investor presentations, press releases, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and in oral statements made by or with the approval of one of Humana’s executive officers, the words or phrases like “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “likely will result,” “estimates,” “projects” or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including, among other things, information set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of the company’s SEC filings, a summary of which includes but is not limited to the following:

• If Humana does not design and price its products properly and competitively, if the premiums Humana receives are insufficient to cover the cost of healthcare services delivered to its members, if the company is unable to implement clinical initiatives to provide a better healthcare experience for its members, lower costs and appropriately document the risk profile of its members, or if its estimates of benefits expense are inadequate, Humana’s profitability could be materially adversely affected. Humana estimates the costs of its benefit expense payments, and designs and prices its products accordingly, using actuarial methods and assumptions based upon, among other relevant factors, claim payment patterns, medical cost inflation, and historical developments such as claim inventory levels and claim receipt patterns. The company continually reviews estimates of future payments relating to benefit expenses for services incurred in the current and prior periods and makes necessary adjustments to its reserves, including premium deficiency reserves, where appropriate. These estimates, however, involve extensive judgment, and have considerable inherent variability because they are extremely sensitive to changes in claim payment patterns and medical cost trends, so any reserves the company may establish, including premium deficiency reserves, may be insufficient.
• If Humana fails to effectively implement its operational and strategic initiatives, particularly its Medicare initiatives and state-based contract strategy, the company’s business may be materially adversely affected, which is of particular importance given the concentration of the company’s revenues in these products. In addition, there can be no assurances that the company will be successful in maintaining or improving its Star ratings in future years.
• If Humana fails to properly maintain the integrity of its data, to strategically implement new information systems, to protect Humana’s proprietary rights to its systems, or to defend against cyber-security attacks, the company’s business may be materially adversely affected.
• Humana is involved in various legal actions, or disputes that could lead to legal actions (such as, among other things, provider contract disputes relating to rate adjustments resulting from the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, commonly referred to as “sequestration”; other provider contract disputes; and qui tam litigation brought by individuals on behalf of the government), governmental and internal investigations, and routine internal review of business processes any of which, if resolved unfavorably to the company, could result in substantial monetary damages or changes in its business practices. Increased litigation and negative publicity could also increase the company’s cost of doing business.
• As a government contractor, Humana is exposed to risks that may materially adversely affect its business or its willingness or ability to participate in government healthcare programs including, among other things, loss of material government contracts, governmental audits and investigations, potential inadequacy of government determined payment rates, potential restrictions on profitability, including by comparison of profitability of the company’s Medicare Advantage business to non-Medicare Advantage business, or other changes in the governmental programs in which Humana participates. Changes to the risk-adjustment model utilized by CMS to adjust premiums paid to Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans according to the health status of covered members, including proposed changes to the methodology used by CMS for risk adjustment data validation audits that fail to address adequately the statutory requirement of actuarial equivalence, if implemented, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial position and cash flows.
• The Healthcare Reform Law, including The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and The Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, could have a material adverse effect on Humana’s results of operations, including restricting revenue, enrollment and premium growth in certain products and market segments, restricting the company’s ability to expand into new markets, increasing the company’s medical and operating costs by, among other things, requiring a minimum benefit ratio on insured products, lowering the company’s Medicare payment rates and increasing the company’s expenses associated with a non-deductible health insurance industry fee and other assessments; the company’s financial position, including the company’s ability to maintain the value of its goodwill; and the company’s cash flows. Additionally, potential legislative changes, including activities to repeal or replace, in whole or in part, the Health Care Reform Law, creates uncertainty for Humana’s business, and when, or in what form, such legislative changes may occur cannot be predicted with certainty.
• Humana’s business activities are subject to substantial government regulation. New laws or regulations, or changes in existing laws or regulations or their manner of application could increase the company’s cost of doing business and may adversely affect the company’s business, profitability and cash flows.
• Humana’s failure to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully may have a material adverse effect on the company’s results of operations, financial position, and cash flows.
• If Humana fails to develop and maintain satisfactory relationships with the providers of care to its members, the company’s business may be adversely affected.
• Humana’s pharmacy business is highly competitive and subjects it to regulations in addition to those the company faces with its core health benefits businesses.
• Changes in the prescription drug industry pricing benchmarks may adversely affect Humana’s financial performance.
• If Humana does not continue to earn and retain purchase discounts and volume rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers at current levels, Humana’s gross margins may decline.
• Humana’s ability to obtain funds from certain of its licensed subsidiaries is restricted by state insurance regulations.
• Downgrades in Humana’s debt ratings, should they occur, may adversely affect its business, results of operations, and financial condition.
• The securities and credit markets may experience volatility and disruption, which may adversely affect Humana’s business.

In making forward-looking statements, Humana is not undertaking to address or update them in future filings or communications regarding its business or results. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed herein may or may not occur. There also may be other risks that the company is unable to predict at this time. Any of these risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Humana advises investors to read the following documents as filed by the company with the SEC for further discussion both of the risks it faces and its historical performance:

• Form 10‐K for the year ended December 31, 2017;
• Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018; June 30, 2018; and
• Form 8‐Ks filed during 2018.

About Humana

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is committed to helping our millions of medical and specialty members achieve their best health. Our successful history in care delivery and health plan administration is helping us create a new kind of integrated care with the power to improve health and well-being and lower costs. Our efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large.

To accomplish that, we support physicians and other health care professionals as they work to deliver the right care in the right place for their patients, our members. Our range of clinical capabilities, resources and tools – such as in-home care, behavioral health, pharmacy services, data analytics and wellness solutions – combine to produce a simplified experience that makes health care easier to navigate and more effective.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s website at humana.com, including copies of:

• Annual reports to stockholders
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Most recent investor conference presentations
• Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls
• Calendar of events
• Corporate Governance information

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181107005227/en/

Humana Investor Relations:
Amy Smith, 502-580-2811
Amysmith@humana.com
or
Humana Corporate Communications:
Tom Noland, 502-580-3674
Tnoland@humana.com

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