UnitedHealth Group Inc. may offer investors a peek behind the health care overhaul curtain when it announces its third-quarter results on Thursday.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Enrollment started earlier this month for the largely online health insurance exchanges that play a leading role in the overhaul's push to expand insurance coverage to millions of people.
Individuals can sign up for 2014 coverage sold by private insurers like UnitedHealth on these exchanges, and many will receive help paying for the coverage thanks to income-based subsidies. Several reports say enrollment so far has been slowed by technical glitches involving the exchanges.
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UnitedHealth has said it will play a limited role in these exchanges, at least initially, and it won't have any financial results from that business to report on Thursday. But it may provide some big insurer perspective on how enrollment has gone so far.
Investors and analysts also will want an update on the insurer's 2014 Medicare Advantage prospects. UnitedHealth is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the government's Medicare program for the elderly and disabled people. Company leaders have been warning that funding cuts to this program will pressure the insurer's performance next year and beyond.
WHY IT MATTERS: UnitedHealth is the largest U.S. health insurer and the first to announce earnings every quarter. Many analysts and investors see it as a bellwether for the managed care sector. WellPoint Inc., the nation's second largest insurer, reports results Oct. 23. Aetna, the third-largest, follows on Oct. 29.
WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $1.53 per share on $30.87 billion in revenue, according to the data firm FactSet.
LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: UnitedHealth's 2012 third-quarter earnings jumped 23 percent, helped in part by a big Medicare Advantage revenue gain. The insurer earned $1.56 billion, or $1.50 per share, as revenue climbed 8 percent to $27.3 billion.
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