Healthcare’s Rocky Road Continues

Moody’s Investor Service has changed its outlook for the U.S. health care insurance sector from stable to negative, citing the the uncertainty of Obamacare.

The New York-based financial research and rating firm’s published report revised the managed health care industry’s 2014 outlook to negative, due primarily to the proportion of high-risk individuals who have enrolled in health insurance plans offered by federal and state exchanges established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“While all of these issues had been on our radar screen as we approached 2014, a new development and a key factor for the change in outlook is the unstable and evolving regulatory environment under which the sector is operating,” Moody’s said. “Notably, new regulations and presidential announcements over the last several months with respect to the ACA have imposed operational changes well after product and pricing decisions had been finalized.”

Preliminary enrollment statistics indicate that only 24% of individuals who purchased coverage through public insurance exchanges are 18 through 34 years old, well below the 40% benchmark Moody’s said is needed to offset the added costs insurers will face with an influx of high-risk enrollees, as well as those with pre-existing medical conditions. S