UnitedHealth's exit won't kill ACA exchanges

• Published in: Business Insurance Vol. 50; no. 9; p. 4
• Main Author: Livingston, Shelby
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago Crain Communications, Inc 25.04.2016; Crain Communications, Incorporated
• Subjects: Corporate finance; Health care policy; Health insurance; Health insurance exchanges; Health maintenance organizations; Insurance companies; Insurance premiums; Laws, regulations and rules; Market exit; Service discontinuation; States; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0007-6864

UnitedHealth Group Inc. said last week that it will exit nearly all of the 34 states where it sold coverage on health insurance exchanges this year amid slow enrollment growth and an unhealthy population that have dented its profit. It said it expects to lose $650 million this year on exchange business, on top of $475 million it lost last year. The Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer will bow out of 2017 exchange offerings that include Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma and Tennessee. UnitedHealth will, however, sell plans on exchanges that include Nevada and Virginia next year, the states' insurance departments confirmed. Even before UnitedHealth's announcement, a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis said the exit of the nation's largest health insurer is unlikely to make waves nationwide, and analysts agreed with that conclusion. According to the Kaiser analysis, if UnitedHealth withdrew completely and no insurer replaced it, there would be a "modest" effect on exchange premiums. Most observers expect health insurance premiums to increase next year as health insurers adjust their pricing to respond to the high-risk exchange enrollees.