UnitedHealth CEO regrets entering ObamaCare

Beaudreaux said:

Thanks for the link.

Did you notice that they called the ACA, the "American Care Act" instead of it's real name, the "Affordable Care Act?" I wonder if that was just incompetence on the part of the reporter and a professional blunder by the editors, or if these people are really trying to remove the word "Affordable" from the actual law's name?

Either way, it's strange.

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I did notice and just assumed it was a proof reading mistake - but Maybe not.

Greenbeard said:

UnitedHealth Sees 2016 Revenue Slightly Below Estimates


Devastating. Thanks, Obama.

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You do understand that the amount of revenue has nothing to do with net profits? You do realize that they could still lose money in the PPACA market, as the OP says, and still have or come close to target revenues, because the costs exceeded revenues in that market?

buck said:

I believe they were in 4 states for one year. They are now in 34 states (Not 44) for their second year. They now wish they had waited even longer before entering and say their is a greater than 50% chance they will be exiting.



As for your cost shifting claim, I can't possibly know for certain, but with all the SOx auditing and regulations and reviews they are under - it's very unlikely. I work in insurance, and the number of internal and external audits we do a year... I just find it very unlikely.

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United healthcare started in beginning 2014 when open enrollment started. He is on record stating losses in the 4 exchanges that they were in.

And its not unlikely cost shifting. happens all the time. Okay.. lets show just how easy this is. United healthcare has tons of products. the products in the exchange are a small part of their business.

Now united negotiate rates with providers for all its products. So all it has to do is go to a provider.. and when it negotiates rates with providers.. it maintains reimbursement rates at current levels for its non exchange products.. but in compromise.. raises its reimbursement rates for services provided to people in the exchanges. Boom.. cost shift to the exchanges.

buck said:

I did notice and just assumed it was a proof reading mistake - but Maybe not.

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Pretty sad when their two options to explain it are either professional incompetence or professional malfeasance. My first response when reading it was "What professional screw up - to get the name of the law incorrect in an article about that very law." And, then my old curmudgeon side thought "Could these folks be consciously trying to remove the word "affordable" from the conversation?"

Beaudreaux said:

You do understand that the amount of revenue has nothing to do with net profits? You do realize that they could still lose money in the PPACA market, as the OP says, and still have or come close to target revenues, because the costs exceeded revenues in that market?

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Just so you know.

UnitedHealth books another profitable quarter, raises 2015 outlook

By Bob Herman | April 16, 2015

UnitedHealth Group is rolling as one of the biggest winners in the Affordable Care Act era. The health insurer and services company posted significant first-quarter gains across all of its business lines.

Profit jumped almost 29% year over year in the first quarter, totaling more than $1.4 billion. UnitedHealth's revenue increased 13% to $35.8 billion. First-quarter earnings per share were $1.46, beating Wall Street's consensus of $1.35.

Despite the sizeable growth in government-sponsored plans, which generally have sicker patients, UnitedHealth's medical-loss ratio (MLR) decreased year over year. The MLR was 81.1% in the first quarter, down 1.4% from the first quarter of 2014, temporarily putting aside investor concerns that rising healthcare volumes and medical costs are eating into insurer profits.

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jaeger19 said:

Just so you know.

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Still doesn't change what I said. Nor, do 2014 numbers reported in April regarding the entire market for UHC, have anything to do with what the CEO stated about 2015 PPACA market numbers in December.

Single payer was the only viable option for reforming our healthcare system before Obamacare, so the fact that it's the only viable option now is not the result of some diabolical plot-- it's simple economics.

cpwill said:

Gotta admit, not a lot of sympathy. The Health Insurance Industry made this bed.

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I read that. Very disturbing.

But he meant that entering "last year" was the bad decision. The timing. He thinks they should have waited longer to see how it shakes out.

WCH said:

Were they coerced or willing participants?

Not that it matters.

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The ins. cos. wrote the large part of the ACA bill provisions. It wasn't their bill, though. The legislative branch proposes bills. I don't know if the ins. cos. lobbied for it.

I think Big Pharma wrote some provisions, as well. The reason being that someone in the business with extensive knowledge of it had to be the ones to write it. No one else would know enough. It seems, now, that even that level of knowledge wasn't enough.