UnitedHealth CEO defends possible exit from Obamacare insurance exchanges
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Dec 1, 2015 | 4:40 pm
1 min read time
232 wordsAll Latest News, Health and Wellness, InsuranceThe CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc. today defended the company’s possible exit from the Obamacare health insurance exchanges in 2017, citing losses on health plans he said were designed to succeed, Reuters reported.
CEO Stephen Hemsley said UnitedHealth had kept costs down by selling plans with small doctor networks, and that it had priced them competitively. And though the health insurer enrolled members with better health than the overall exchange population, it still lost money, he said.
“We could not sustain the eroding level of losses on our exchange products,” Hemsley said during the company’s annual meeting with investors. UnitedHealth last month warned of mounting losses and said it might pull out of the exchanges.
Hemsley said it was not yet known if the exchange problems were limited to UnitedHealth or if they reflected a structural issue with the exchanges. The exchanges were created under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and provide insurance to more than 9 million individuals.
Under the law, insurers cannot refuse coverage to anyone, and many insurers, including Aetna and Anthem, have said some members are using medical services heavily, contributing to losses.
UnitedHealth currently participates in 26 states’ exchanges, but it does not offer marketplace plans in Iowa.
Iowa’s largest health insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, announced earlier this year it would begin offering coverage through the exchange in Iowa in 2017.
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