, Columnist
UnitedHealth Knocks Obamacare
The insurer may not be the last to threaten to pull out.
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Obamacare has survived an endless series of lawsuits and empty congressional votes mostly unscathed. But a business -- one of the insurers expected to make the law work -- just delivered some of the most worrying news for the law since its passage.
UnitedHealth, the country's biggest insurer, on Thursday substantially lowered earnings expectations for 2016, citing diminished hopes for its individual health care exchange business, part of a system set up and subsidized by the law. It is pulling back on marketing individual plans and considering whether to stay in the business at all for 2017.