Health insurance stocks jumped after Donald Trump won the presidential election on expectations for deregulation in the industry, but shares tumbled after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In fact, UnitedHealth Group’s stock surged 9% immediately after the election, only to drop 15% since Dec. 4.
Despite Republicans taking control of both Congress and the White House, analysts now question their pre-election narrative on insurers. According to John Ransom, director of healthcare research at Raymond James, “the bet is a little bit hard to make because you don’t know who’s going to be occupying these seats.” He also noted that Trump’s populist party may not be as supportive of the industry as previously thought.
The killing of Brian Thompson led to an online backlash against insurers for denying coverage to patients. However, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty acknowledged the need for healthcare system improvements in a New York Times op-ed.
Despite this, Ransom expressed concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in prior authorizations – a process requiring pre-approval from companies before certain services or prescriptions can be provided. “Maybe that has gotten out of control,” he said. However, AI can also have positive impacts on healthcare, such as analyzing data to predict who might need medical intervention before it’s too late.
The debate over the use of artificial intelligence in prior authorizations is ongoing, with Ransom calling for a healthy discussion about whether the current system has become overly restrictive.
Source: https://fortune.com/2024/12/15/ai-prior-authorization-healthcare-insurance-industry-unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson