Obamacare's Viability On the Line as UnitedHealth Threatens Exit
- Company says it will lose $500 million on Affordable Care Act
- Obama's signature achievement hasn't delivered insurer profits
UnitedHealth Considers Reversing Course on Obamacare
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If too many big health insurers follow UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s lead and sour on Obamacare, the industry may finish the job Republicans began five years ago: crippling President Barack Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment.
UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. insurer by market value, said Thursday that it expects to lose as much as $500 million selling coverage under the Affordable Care Act next year, and that it may exit the program in 2017. While most insurers don’t yet turn a profit on the health law’s plans, no other large carriers have threatened to quit the program.