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More than half of Americans have their health coverage paid for by their employers in whole or in part and another 40% are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. That leaves only around 12% of the population participating in the individual marketplace.
The news is consistently covering how much money insurers are losing in the individual marketplace. However, not many are focusing on how few people are insured through the marketplace and how insurers are still making considerable profits from group health plan sales.
A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation examining insurers’ third quarter 2017 earnings found that third quarter. Additionally, stock prices for some of the country’s health insurance companies outperformed the rest of the stock market in 2017. Sponsors of group health plans should understand the profitability of insurance carriers and not conflate the losses of the individual marketplace.