Moody’s Downgrades Outlook for Health Insurers from “Stable” to “Negative”

The disaster continues…
Credit ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook for health insurers to “negative” from “stable.”

The Washington Examiner reported:

Credit ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday lowered its outlook for health insurers to “negative” from “stable,” citing “uncertainty” swirling around the rollout of President Obama’s health care law.

In a new report, the agency said that the outlook for insurance companies is no longer clear because the law’s insurance exchanges haven’t been attracting enough younger individuals. In addition, Moody’s analysts were concerned that the Obama administration has been changing regulations after insurers had already set prices for the year.

“While we’ve had industry risks from regulatory changes on our radar for a while, the ongoing unstable and evolving environment is a key factor for our outlook change,” Stephen Zaharuk, author of the report, said in a statement. “The past few months have seen new regulations and announcements that impose operational changes well after product and pricing decisions were finalized.”

The release noted, “Uncertainty over the demographics of those enrolling in individual products through the exchanges is a key factor in Moody’s outlook change. … Enrollment statistics show that only 24 percent of enrollees so far are between 18 and 34, a critical age group in ensuring that lower claim costs subsidize the higher claim costs of less healthy, older individuals. This is well short of the original 40 percent target based on the proportion of eligible people in this cohort.”

Photo of author
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!