(This was a reply I posted in another thread, but it should probably be its own topic.)
Ever wonder why Cigna, UHG, Aetna, etc. are trying to branch out into different areas?
They’re hedging their bets.
AI efficiency is smallest piece in our layoff equation, but it is giving leadership hope that cuts will help bring profits.
Cigna, as well as every other publicly traded company, is outsourcing (offshoring) tech, admin, call centers, etc. in huge numbers. The remaining US employees are expected to absorb their newly-acquired extra job functions with the use of AI (Copilot in our case). AI is expected to increase productivity of remaining US employees by at least 2X.
As per usual, teams in India will make lots of noise and eat up company resources while providing very little new product and creating extra work for US-based workers.
Ultimately, Shareholders will still be pi---d because Cigna stock prices will continue to slide. The real reason for this slide isn’t is that employee costs are growing. Rather, it’s because health insurance premiums can no longer feasibly grow at the same rate as healthcare cost and utilization.
What we’re witnessing firsthand is an industry in turmoil. The once limitless dollars of the US commercial healthcare membership are drying up at an unbelievable rate. The Boomer demographic is coming home to roost and is destroying the market. GenX and Millennial employee dollars can’t stand the strain of Boomer retirees and job diehards.
You may ask “if Boomers retiring, how does this negatively impact commercial plans?”
The answer is that the US commercial healthcare member/client pays the lion’s share of the US (and the world) healthcare bill.
Providers have prices capped by CMS (Medicare/Medicaid) and many uninsured individuals just don’t pay. So that leaves the good ol’ American employee based plans to pick up the slack. But this golden egg-laying goose has hit menopause. It wasn’t expected so soon or so dramatically.
Employers are tapped out, so premiums can’t increase appreciably.
Individuals are forced to buy super high deductible plans while avoiding wellness visits and out of pocket costs.
Health insurer shareholders will continue to demand cuts until profits are acceptable.
This last thing is impossible.
This industry is no longer viable.
If you’re under 45 years old, be planning your transition. If you’re 55+, pray you can hang on and save.
For those of you who think single payer provided by Big Daddy Government is the answer. Well, just look around at the challenges those socialist utopias are facing and remember that SOMEONE IS PAYING THE BILL and someone else is trying to work a profit. It’s the same p-o in a different bag.