UHC, They Are Releasing the News Monday....possibly Today

[TxOnline]

If there's NO money to be made, WHY are the big players even IN this rat race?

To keep jobs for the Indiv/Family Dept employees????
It's surely not to keep their "valued" agents working. We all know that.

The top-dogs draw their millions regardless.
What's the logic?

 

[craig_ritter]

If there's NO money to be made, WHY are the big players even IN this rat race?

To keep jobs for the Indiv/Family Dept employees????
It's surely not to keep their "valued" agents working. We all know that.

The top-dogs draw their millions regardless.
What's the logic?

I was wondering about the about-face here on exchange business. I went back and looked at the earnings call from 10/15/15 to see if there were any warning signs about IFP/exchange. Here is a quote from David Wichmann talking about the exchange business impact on the overall business and their view on 2016 and beyond:

"The annual care ratio is being modestly affected by the performance of our new public exchange benefit programs which now serve nearly 550,000 people. Like others we observed market-wide data this past spring that suggested the risk pool served by public exchanges would require more medical services than original expectations.

Rather than wait for our own experience with our new members to fully develop, we increased rates and repositioned certain products market by market for 2016, and we expect improved performance next year. We will expand to 11 new markets in 2016, and we continue to expect exchanges to develop and mature over time into a strong, viable growth market for us."

The quote makes it sound like they were fairly optimistic about exchange business in 2016 and since this quote is only a month old, it's crazy that things seemed to turn negative so quickly.

 

[saintstigers]

I was wondering about the about-face here on exchange business. I went back and looked at the earnings call from 10/15/15 to see if there were any warning signs about IFP/exchange. Here is a quote from David Wichmann talking about the exchange business impact on the overall business and their view on 2016 and beyond:

"The annual care ratio is being modestly affected by the performance of our new public exchange benefit programs which now serve nearly 550,000 people. Like others we observed market-wide data this past spring that suggested the risk pool served by public exchanges would require more medical services than original expectations.

Rather than wait for our own experience with our new members to fully develop, we increased rates and repositioned certain products market by market for 2016, and we expect improved performance next year. We will expand to 11 new markets in 2016, and we continue to expect exchanges to develop and mature over time into a strong, viable growth market for us."

The quote makes it sound like they were fairly optimistic about exchange business in 2016 and since this quote is only a month old, it's crazy that things seemed to turn negative so quickly.

In my market they were paying the highest agent comp for exchange business, not sure if they had the top comp in other markets. Perhaps they realized they were overpaying on commission in comparison to the competition?

 

[Yagents]

What's that saying again........."it's like a pimple on a ________"

 

[markinsurance5]

yes something isn't right- how can they suddenly change their mind so fast and for what reason. Also are they allowed to change or back out of a contract? isn't that why a contract is there. makes no sense

 

[SeniorGurl]

From Yagents post: "I'll ask every UHC interested person to call UHC, and overload their phone systems. Let's show them how much we take off their staffing requirements.

At the end of the day, an agent assisted client, is an educated client, who knows who to extract the most out of the policy benefits. We cost them money in more than one way. I guess they only want the uneducated dumb clients who strictly buy on price, and don't include their doctors/meds."

I like that approach! Another agent said he would not sell if it came to this, and would tell them the same thing. I like it! SOLD

 

[somarco]

they (carriers) only want the uneducated dumb clients who strictly buy on price,

And, we have a winner!

are they allowed to change or back out of a contract?

Read your agent contract. It can change at any time subject to notification guidelines.

isn't that why a contract is there.

Contracts can be terminated at any time. They are always finite.

 

[markinsurance5]

i guess it can- but they have contacts with agencies and brokerages- they signed these contracts weeks ago. Strange they can change anytime. What's the purpose of the contract anyway then- i guess to put on paper exact numbers and info but it can be terminated. so strange. really weird company

 

[somarco]

A contract is good until terminated by either party or replaced with a new one offering different terms.

I am in no way defending UHC. I have my own issues with them. But as long as they are honoring the old contract on business placed when that was in place they are doing nothing wrong from a legal perspective.

 

[markinsurance5]

well most contracts can't just be 'terminated'- that's the reason they have a contract in place. It's not as if you can just go around ending them before a specified time. In this case, it must be allowed, in some form, which isn't right.