, Columnist
The Pandemic Is Just Fine for Health Insurers
The stock market may be overly sanguine in greeting strong earnings for UnitedHealth, given the risk of political change.
More coronavirus cases mean fewer elective surgeries.
Photographer: Misha Friedman/Getty Images
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You learn some interesting things during earnings season. For example, you would think the implications of a pandemic for health insurance companies would be straightforward. After a hurricane, property and casualty insurers have to pay out more in claims and their profits go down. You would expect the same for health insurance companies.