23 November 2015

Obamacare Crumbling Before Our Eyes...

It wasn't very long ago that President Obama would jeer at Republicans for the many congressional votes they had taken to amend or repeal his healthcare law. But, much though he loves to jeer — his shameful and unpresidential fit of pique about GOP concerns on terrorists camouflaged as refugees, was a recent example — the president may soon beg them for a few more such votes. Because as its sixth birthday approaches, his health insurance law is in critical condition.

The latest bad Obamacare news came on Thursday, when America's largest insurer had to tell Wall Street that it is losing its shirt by participating in the Obamacare exchanges. In a press release, UnitedHealth Group slashed its earnings outlook, causing its stock to fall by 6 percent in the first few minutes of trading.

The release notes that although the rest of UnitedHealth's business is performing "in line with expectations," its earnings would take a $425 million hit in 2015 and 2016 thanks to "projected losses on individual [Obamacare] exchange-compliant products."

The company may announce next that it is dropping out of the Obamacare exchange business altogether, CEO Stephen Hemsley later explained in a conference call with investors. That would mean that more than half a million Obamacare exchange customers will have to find new health plans...