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What happened with ASTH today?

Why it moved
Explains possible causes using the day’s news and filings
Moving with the market?
Uses market moves and trading volume to assess what drove the change
What to watch next
The next thing that could change the call, and what to look for

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Uses news and trading volume to explain the day’s move and how it relates to the market.

Investment outlook

ASTH in three months: buy, wait or sell?

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  • Buy / Wait / Sell rating
  • 3-month target price
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Company

Company overview

Astrana Health organizes physician networks to arrange care for people covered by private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid in the United States. Its Care Partners business brings providers together under contracts that make them responsible for specified medical costs. Health plans generally pay a fixed monthly amount for each enrolled member, rather than paying separately for every service. These payments, called capitation, account for most revenue. Some arrangements cover physician services alone; its licensed California health plans can also take responsibility for hospital costs. Astrana also receives monthly payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through ACO REACH, with savings or losses determined against a spending benchmark.

Care Delivery provides treatment through clinics and facilities including Foothill Regional Medical Center, collecting payments for care from insurers and patients. Care Enablement supplies management and technology services to healthcare organizations for fees, supporting functions such as care coordination, claims processing and billing.

The business depends on enrolled membership, payer rates and keeping covered medical costs within the payments or budgets it receives. A small group of payers supplies most revenue, and California accounts for a substantial share of the business. State restrictions on corporate ownership of medical practices mean Astrana relies on contracts with physician-owned affiliated groups rather than owning those groups directly. Its restricted California health-plan licenses cover Medicare Advantage and Medi-Cal only in designated counties, not commercial insurance.

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Source: SEC filing

Red flags

Know what’s buried in ASTH’s filings before you buy

The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.

Sorted into
  • Happening now
  • Could go wrong
  • Built in

Moat

ASTH says it has a moat. Does it hold up?

Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.

Each edge rated
  • Strong
  • Moderate
  • Limited
  • Unproven

Related companies

  • Competition
  • Shared drivers
  • Supplier
  • Customer

Astrana’s results hinge on keeping medical costs within fixed per-member payments and securing physician and payer relationships, with private rivals Aledade and Heritage Provider Network also worth watching.

  • agilon health and Astrana both partner with independent physician groups to manage care paid for through fixed health-plan payments and Medicare programs that share savings or losses. Watch agilon’s Medicare Advantage medical costs against its monthly per-member payments for a read on the cost pressure facing this model.

  • P3 Health Partners competes with Astrana for physicians and health-plan contracts; both organize provider networks that receive fixed monthly payments per member and bear medical-cost risk. P3’s ability to retain health-plan contracts and attract affiliated physicians shows how hard Astrana must compete for those relationships.

  • Privia Health Group competes with Astrana for physicians, payer contracts and Medicare opportunities that reward keeping patient costs below a budget. Both organize physician networks and provide management services; Privia’s physician recruitment and payer-contract news are worth watching for pressure on Astrana’s network growth.

  • UnitedHealth Group’s Optum competes with Astrana’s physician networks and clinics, and its Optum Health business also accepts monthly payments in exchange for responsibility for patient medical costs. Optum Health’s results from these arrangements offer another view of whether payments are keeping pace with the cost of care.

  • Evolent Health and Astrana both face pressure when medical claims outgrow fixed per-member payments, but Evolent takes specialty-care risk while Astrana covers broader patient care. Evolent’s Performance Suite, which receives payments to take responsibility for covered specialty claims, is the business to watch for this pressure.

  • Humana and Astrana share exposure to Medicare enrollment, reimbursement and beneficiary medical costs: Humana sells Medicare insurance and provides senior-focused care, while Astrana manages care funded by health plans and Medicare. Watch Humana’s Medicare membership and care-cost news for changes affecting the patients Astrana serves.

  • CVS Health’s Aetna and Astrana bear medical-cost risk across Medicare, Medicaid and commercial coverage, but Aetna takes that risk as an insurer while Astrana takes it through contracts to arrange patient care. Aetna’s insured-plan medical spending is the relevant signal—not its contracts where the plan sponsor retains the risk.

  • Elevance Health and Astrana are both exposed when medical spending exceeds fixed member-based funding: Elevance collects premiums to insure care, while Astrana receives health-plan payments to arrange it. Elevance’s risk-bearing health-insurance results are the closer comparison, rather than its fees for administering employers’ self-funded plans.

Agenda

in 9 daysWed, Oct 28

  1. 2:00 PMET

    Fed Interest Rate Decision

    Astrana Health’s Fed rate decision matters because it can move the floating interest it pays on term loans and its revolver, changing cash left for healthcare operations.

in 16 daysWed, Nov 4

  1. Time to be announced

    agilon health, inc. earningsAGL

    agilon health’s physician networks also take monthly plan payments and bear care costs, so its medical-cost results offer a read on the pressure facing Astrana Health’s similar business.

in 17 daysThu, Nov 5

  1. Time to be announced
    Major

    Astrana Health Inc. earningsThis company

    Astrana Health relies mainly on fixed payments per patient, and this report will show whether taking on more care responsibility is bringing in enough to cover medical costs.