S&P Is Cautiously Optimistic About Health Insurers’ Financial Prospects

May 18

Credit ratings firm S&P Global Ratings Inc. is mildly confident about the financial health of the health care industry. On May 13, S&P analysts gave health insurance companies a stable outlook, and graded payer debt with an A rating. Meanwhile, for-profit and not-for-profit providers both received negative outlooks.

S&P has not downgraded any health insurance firms this year. Those ratings are in line with a consensus across Wall Street that sees health insurance firms as a safe investment bet despite the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Publicly traded payers’ first-quarter earnings were all in line with their pre-COVID-19 guidance, and many firms exceeded their projected first-quarter results (HPW 5/4/20, p. 1).

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Health Plan Weekly

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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