Dive Brief:
- While UnitedHealth has caused some alarm with its recent plan to depart from three state ACA marketplaces, experts remind while the insurer is the nation's largest, it's a small player on the individual coverage market.
- A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation concludes even if UnitedHealth leaves the ACA markets altogether, negative impacts would be limited, most notably affecting some markets in rural areas and southern states.
- A complete UnitedHealth withdrawal in all states would cause 532 counties to drop from three ACA insurers to two, and another 536 counties to drop from two insurers to one. "Still, the vast majority of marketplace enrollees (8.9 million or 70% of enrollees nationally) would continue to have a choice of three or more insurers," the KFF report finds.
Dive Insight:
UnitedHealth's intentions regarding its participation in other states may become clearer this week during the company's first quarter earnings call, Forbes notes, and until it does the rest is speculation. However, several experts suggest that no matter what UnitedHealth does, other insurers are unlikely to follow suit in a calamitous marketplace mass exodus.
“So far there’s been a lot more ‘voice’ than ‘exit’ and I basically think that will continue to be the case," Katherine Hempstead of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation told Forbes.
The publication also suggests this year's pending megamergers may prove a factor. While UnitedHealth is free from any constraints, Humana and Aetna, as well as Cigna and Anthem, may feel political pressure to maintain marketplace loyalty while seeking regulatory approvals.
The KFF report adds it could do little predict how a UnitedHealth departure would impact other plans' participation and premiums, or to qualtify the long-term impacts.
The carrier released it's 2016 Q1 earnings report this morning. Healthcare Dive will update information as more information becomes available.