UnitedHealth, the industry’s largest insurer, is eyeing lessened or no participation in the Obamacare marketplaces in 2017 and is already cutting back participation during this year’s open enrollment, citing high costs and low participation.

“We cannot sustain these losses,” Chief Executive Stephen Hemsley said Thursday. “We can’t really subsidize a marketplace that doesn’t appear at the moment to be sustaining itself.”

He said the company in the first half of 2016 will determine “to what extent it can continue to serve the public exchange markets in 2017.”

The Minnesota-based company reported that medical claims have come in higher than expected while enrollment in its most affordable high-deductible health policies on the marketplaces has come in under expectations.


For the full story on how the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) affects your business, no matter how large or small, please obtain a copy of our comprehensive yet easy-to-follow Affordable Care Act Compliance Kit.