Shares in UnitedHealth slumped by 10% following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson on 4 December. Many people were “indifferent” to the assassination, with the group’s business practices in the spotlight instead. Some lambasted the group for “placing greater emphasis on their bottom line [than] providing quality coverage to its insurees”. Some investors worry that UnitedHealth “will see reduced customer loyalty, resulting in worse financial performance”.
It’s not only UnitedHealth, which saw its market capitalisation fall by $55 billion, that is facing pressure, says Forbes’ Derek Saul. There has been a wider sell-off in health insurance shares with a range of companies, such as Elevance Health, Cigna, Centene and Humana all losing ground. The fear seems to be that the anti-insurer sentiment expressed by the public may pressure the industry “to adjust how they handle coverage decisions”. If companies don’t, they know that they might eventually “face the wrath of the public” in the form of increased regulation.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
For now, most analysts still expect the new administration to focus on “traditional Republican priorities”, such as trying to shift more patients into the privately administered programme known as Medicare Advantage, says David Wainer in The Wall Street Journal.
Overall, something is very wrong with the US healthcare system, says Robert Cyran for Breakingviews – “only 5% of respondents ranked the services provided by health insurers as excellent in a 2023 Gallup poll, with about a third classifying them as poor”.
What’s more, despite the US spending $12,000 per head on healthcare, 2.5 times the average for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Americans still have “a lower life expectancy than most countries in the bloc”. Insurance premiums and out-of-pocket spending by individuals have also risen above inflation, with the US “spending more money and time on insurance, administration, patient paperwork, cost disputes and bickering over insurer approval for treatments”.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
-
5 alternatives to Reeves’ inheritance tax raid on rural Britain as families face ‘splitting up or selling’ farmsInheritance tax limits are now so low they attack small working family farms rather than just going after tax loopholes, one Cotswolds farmer has said
-
High earners at risk of £65k retirement shockHigh earners could face some of the biggest pension shortfalls when they retire, as the cost of maintaining an expensive lifestyle could erode their retirement savings
-
Are wealthy whisky enthusiasts leaving Britain?Collectables Wealthy whisky enthusiasts are heading to tax-friendly countries such as Dubai, where there is more disposable income to spend on collectable luxuries like rare whisky.
-
'The rise and fall of Kodak is a lesson for the tech giants'Opinion The long decline of Kodak – a once-dominant company – shows why no business is safe from disruption, says Matthew Lynn
-
The financial crisis in UK universities – what can be done?UK universities are running out of cash and have begun to shed staff; bankruptcies look likely. What’s gone wrong, and what should be done about it?
-
8 of the best properties for sale with kitchen gardensThe best properties for sale with kitchen gardens – from a 17th-century timber-framed hall house in Norfolk, to an Arts & Crafts house in West Sussex designed by Charles Voysey with a garden by Gertrude Jekyll
-
'Governments are launching an assault on the independence of central banks'Opinion Say goodbye to the era of central bank orthodoxy and hello to the new era of central bank dependency, says Jeremy McKeown
-
Why investors can no longer trust traditional statistical indicatorsOpinion The statistical indicators and data investors have relied on for decades are no longer fit for purpose. It's time to move on, says Helen Thomas
-
Investors rediscover the virtue of value investing over growthGrowth investing, betting on rapidly expanding companies, has proved successful since 2008. But now the other main investment style seems to be coming back into fashion.
-
8 of the best properties for sale with shooting estatesThe best properties for sale with shooting estates – from an estate in a designated Dark Sky area in Ayrshire, Scotland, to a hunting estate in Tuscany with a wild boar, mouflon, deer and hare shoot
