United Leaving Exchanges Is Not the Point

Comments in a recent Politico article over United HealthCare's pullout from the Obamacare exchanges because of $1 billion in losses have me scratching my head. 

"It's a nothingburger in terms of market impact, said insurance industry consultant John Gorman. But symbolically and politically, it's huge" He went on, "We're only about halfway through the drama of stabilizing these marketplaces. We've got another two or three years to go, and it's going to be a bloody two or three years."

Then this, "Analysts at Standard & Poor's now predict that Obamacare markets won't stabilize until 2018, two years later than previously anticipated."

Or this, "United's exit could matter in selected markets, but nationally it's a blip," said Kaiser senior vice president Larry Levitt.

Talk about missing the forest for the trees.