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NEW YORK (Bloomberg)—UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer by sales, expects companies to keep offering benefits rather than force a migration of workers to the online exchanges created by the U.S. health care law, CEO Stephen Hemsley said at a conference Friday.
Under the law passed in March, companies still face costs for employees’ coverage even if they buy it through the exchanges. Keeping their own plans will give employers the best chance of controlling medical expenses, Mr. Hemsley said in a presentation at the investor conference in New York on Friday. He cited studies by the Congressional Budget Office, which said in December that 134 million people working at companies with 50 or more employees will still get benefits in 2016.
“We don’t expect, nor would anyone else who’s modeling this actually expect, that kind of migration” into the exchanges, Mr. Hemsley said. Businesses “have thought about the fact that they can manage their costs more effectively.”
CIGNA Corp. CEO David Cordani, in a separate presentation at the same Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. conference, said it is unclear how companies will respond to the health care law. Some may decide it is cheaper to let people buy on their own through the purchasing exchanges, he said.
The online marketplaces open in 2014. Employers will spend the next three to five years weighing options, Mr. Cordani said.
“Will there be a de minimis effect” on the large-employer market for insurance? “We don’t think so,” Mr. Cordani said.
&Copy;2010 Bloomberg News