United Health Care - Opting Out of Most Exchanges!

[somarco]

A 30%-40% premium increase is pocket change for a family of 4 living high off the hog @ 401% of FPL.

I didn't see the sarcasm emoji.

Perhaps, in your haste to move on, you forgot to include it.

 

[Tkruger]

Those who are most needy will have that increase covered by the Taxpayer.

Let's use a current example with a family of 4 in FL 33710, Hus and Wife 45, Both NS, Kids M 14 and F 12 at 138% FPL or $33,465. This gives a tax credit of $538 per month for 2016.

Cheapest Silver for 2015 excluding quality of network and so on is FL Blue 1443 @ $657 Before APTC after $ 74.

Now increase that monthly premium before APTC By 30%. What was $ 74 per month now increases to $ 271.10 per month. That's 366% + rate increase to those who are in the 138% FPL or close to 10% of their yearly earnings.

As we saw this year, the APTC isn't increasing as fast as the rates for coverage.

What was $ 657 this year for 2 45 year olds would jump to $ 854.10 in 2017.

So you see by this example that in fact no, the rate increase would not be covered by the taxpayers but passed on to the consumer not at 30% but at 366%.

 

[AllenChicago]

I didn't see the sarcasm emoji.

Perhaps, in your haste to move on, you forgot to include it.

Couldn't find a sarcasm emoji. But added a similar one. We OK now Somarco?

TKruger, that's an excellent example of how the Subsidy is not keeping up with the premium increases. That gap is amplified when you have a horrible company in the market (Ambetter in Chicago) with very low premiums.

 

[Yagents]

If I was the only carrier in the market, I would control the second silver premium cost, and would price it just below a gold price. This way, APTC is maximized, and the tax payer picks up most of the bill.......and the gov't always pays on time (with other people's money).

When carriers low ball premiums, it screws up the local market big time, we've had it happen three years in a row in AZ. Health Net, then Meritus, and then Phoenix Health Plans. The same demographic AZ family, gets twice the APTC if they moved to Florida.

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Shareholders win again..........agents and patients lose.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/art...ntent=20160419-NEWS-160419915&utm_campaign=am

Despite ACA losses, UnitedHealth's first-quarter profit jumps 14%
By Bob Herman | April 19, 2016
Even though UnitedHealth Group has lost hundreds of millions of dollars on its individual Affordable Care Act plans, the conglomerate's other lines of business like Medicare Advantage and Optum have been making money at a healthy clip.

UnitedHealth Group's profit climbed 14% year over year, totaling $1.6 billion in the first three months of this year. Adjusted earnings per share rose 17% to $1.81, beating estimates on Wall Street.

The boost to profits comes despite the fact UnitedHealth is projecting almost $1 billion worth of losses on its ACA health plans. The company signed up many sicker-than-expected members, but it also mispriced its plans in 2015 after barely participating on the exchanges in 2014.

UnitedHealth did not immediately address its ACA business in its news release Tuesday morning.

Revenue soared almost 25% to $44.5 billion in the first quarter, putting UnitedHealth on pace to hit $182 billion of revenue for the year. The Minnetonka, Minn.-based company recorded double-digit revenue growth across every major segment, including employer, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and its Optum health services business. UnitedHealth now covers the medical care of nearly 47.7 million Americans.

UnitedHealth's medical-loss ratio, which shows how much of its premium dollars were spent on medical care or "quality improvement" programs, was 81.7% in the quarter. That was up slightly from the 81.4% posted in the same quarter last year, which UnitedHealth attributed to the leap day.

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These states are next on the axe list for UHC:

For some states, UnitedHealth exit from PPACA exchange system would hurt | LifeHealthPro

Other states where UnitedHealth posted big losses in its individual business include Florida, North Carolina, New York, Alabama and Louisiana, Gupte said. She said UnitedHealth will probably take into account those losses as well as its 2017 outlook as it decides which states to exit.

 

[Tkruger]

This just in

UnitedHealth pulls back on ObamaCare exchanges amid huge losses | Fox News

The nation's largest health insurer, fearing massive financial losses, announced Tuesday that it plans to pull back from ObamaCare in a big way and cut its participation in the program's insurance exchanges to just a handful of states next year – in the latest sign of instability in the marketplace under the law.

The article is very poorly written. Specifically noting 34 state exchanges.

 

[Post Quartermaster]

Let's use a current example with a family of 4 in FL 33710, Hus and Wife 45, Both NS, Kids M 14 and F 12 at 138% FPL or $33,465. This gives a tax credit of $538 per month for 2016.

Cheapest Silver for 2015 excluding quality of network and so on is FL Blue 1443 @ $657 Before APTC after $ 74.

Now increase that monthly premium before APTC By 30%. What was $ 74 per month now increases to $ 271.10 per month. That's 366% + rate increase to those who are in the 138% FPL or close to 10% of their yearly earnings.

As we saw this year, the APTC isn't increasing as fast as the rates for coverage.

What was $ 657 this year for 2 45 year olds would jump to $ 854.10 in 2017.

So you see by this example that in fact no, the rate increase would not be covered by the taxpayers but passed on to the consumer not at 30% but at 366%.

I cant figure out how this is a valid example if you aren't factoring in SLCP premium changes as well......seems you are leaving out half of the formula. And that half is pretty important....

 

[Tkruger]

I cant figure out how this is a valid example if you aren't factoring in SLCP premium changes as well......seems you are leaving out half of the formula. And that half is pretty important....

My example was based on the current market rates increasing premiums by 30% on the lowest priced silver plan currently available in the example zip code.

The yearly increase in APTC Based off the SLCP falls short by far that of the increase in premiums.

From 14 through 16 APTC's haven't increased by much. Many of our clients whom we wrote in 14 on OCare plans rates increased 200 - 350% in 2015 where income and household info didn't change.

So what is the calculation you've referred to based off my example that is so far off?

 

[Yagents]

The SLCSP is a moving target. Until you know that number, you don't know how the rate increases will impact subsidized clients.

In FL, Kruger is correct, APTC started high and has stayed level over 3 years.
In AZ, we were the low, then SLCSP went lower in yr 2, then higher in yr 3 to absorb most of the rate increase in year 3.

 

[somarco]

Myopic agents that focus on the IFP market often forget (or ignore) how diversified the mega carriers are. The IFP market has always been a small piece of the pie for carriers like UHC, Humana, Cigna (especially Cigna), Aetna and others.

BX is a different animal and for some reason always played heavily in the IFP market but at the same time writing a ton of large group (especially public sector). In many ways the IFP was designed to catch those leaving the group. Of course they play on their name and "everyone takes BX".

So these carriers that are losing their butt on Obamacare are still doing just fine overall and keeping the stockholders happy.

And they will continue to do so once Obamacare has morphed into Medicaid for all.

 

[Yagents]

More of the same:

UnitedHealth to drop out of all but a few PPACA states | LifeHealthPro