tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post6097864017313101180..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: For United Healthcare, What's the matter with Iowa? -- Part IIAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-37485764974775160192016-05-10T06:19:40.109-04:002016-05-10T06:19:40.109-04:00This also shows what happens when you have timid o...This also shows what happens when you have timid or non-existent risk adjustment systems.<br />In the more mature European insurance markets. a carrier that attracts sicker participants is given extra funds from the risk adjustment pool. This has the effect of smoothing financial results and this creates carrier stability.<br />Without this type of infrastructure, the effect of guaranteed issue will always be instability and carrier departure. It only happened about ten straight times in the states that tried guaranteed issue in the 20 years that preceded the ACA.bob.hertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09686373408419885558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-36489751624405594962016-05-08T09:36:16.465-04:002016-05-08T09:36:16.465-04:00Bob, the Richard Mayhew hypothesis is that in larg...Bob, the Richard Mayhew hypothesis is that in large markets, UHC was a victim of adverse selection, courtesy of high prices and more robust networks -- healthy shoppers went to the cut-rate competitors. Perhaps their sales in small and rural markets, where they were generally price competitive, simply weren't enough to offset that. I don't know whether their failure to gain proportionate market share in Iowa is representative,or what their small-market vs. large-market customer mix is, but in the Urban Institute study, the large markets in which UHC participated accounted for 47% of the country's population, and UHC also participated in half of small/rural markets accounting for 37% of population (so, maybe about 20% for UHC). I suppose a good study might compare UHC's MLR in states with mostly small markets vs. states with mostly large ones.<br />https://www.balloon-juice.com/2016/02/03/competition-and-self-inflicted-wounds-on-exchange/Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-21764438211894160362016-05-07T21:04:56.050-04:002016-05-07T21:04:56.050-04:00Let me keep at this.
The United problem that inte...Let me keep at this.<br /><br />The United problem that interests me is NOT the persons they did not attract due to narrow networks.<br /><br />What interests me is how they lost so much money on persons who did sign up with them?bob.hertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09686373408419885558noreply@blogger.com