A.M. Best Special Report: U.S. Health Insurance Industry Earnings Up 46% in 2016 according to : Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The health insurance industry posted improved earnings for 2016, with net income for those companies filing on a health annual statement rising by 46% to $13.1 billion compared with $9.0 billion in 2015, according to a new A.M. Best special report. Health Insurance Industry Earnings Up in 2016," notes that net income was supported by a second year of improving underwriting income, which is owed to favorable year-over-year development in the majority of lines of business. To mitigate the short-term liquidity pressure, health insurance carriers are holding more liquid assets. Capital and surplus grew by 7.5% to $161.9 billion from $150.7 billion in 2015, driven primarily by the improvement in net income. The comprehensive (commercial) business segment reported an overall underwriting loss of $893 million, which was a marked improvement from the $2.1 billion underwriting loss reported in 2015.




Consumers and a state legislator on Wednesday urged Connecticut insurance regulators to reject double-digit rate increases sought by two health insurers. She told the panel of three officials – a hearing officer, lawyer and insurance actuary – that the health insurer is "actively sabotaging" Access Health, Connecticut's health insurance exchange, by making coverage unaffordable. He asked regulators to keep health insurance rate increases "reasonable." Anthem Health Plans is seeking an average 33.8 percent increase for policies, including those sold under Access Health CT, the state health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade is expected to make a decision on the rate increase proposals later this summer or fall.

Health Insurance - An Industry In Transition

IntroductionThe publicly traded Health Insurance (HI) industry has $371.9B in market capitalization and $130.7B in quarterly revenue. Health Insurance Tax Entanglements - A backbone component of the current USA health system is employer-based HI known as employer sponsored insurance (ESI). The AMA has authored and regularly updates a document entitled "Competition in Health Insurance: A comprehensive study of US markets". We would suggest that the interested reader start with the NPR article/Podcast The Huge (and rarely discussed) Health Insurance Tax Break . We would also note that the HI industry has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 over the recent five-year time period.


collected by :Lucy William

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