Now that Obamacare looks like it might stick around a little while longer, maybe UnitedHealth Group Inc. should reconsider abandoning it.
Of course, the insurer's solid second-quarter results reported on Tuesday -- it beat analyst earnings expectations and boosted full-year guidance -- benefited from its retreat from the Affordable Care Act's (ACAs) individual exchanges.
But odd as it may seem, given how well the decision to bail on the ACA has paid off, UnitedHealth should at least consider an eventual return. Getting out was arguably the right choice for the company last year. But if done right, returning could be a good idea, too.
First, a caveat: This is conditional on the Trump administration not sabotaging the ACA and retaining cost-sharing subsidies that help low-income Americans afford insurance. A return to Obamacare would ideally happen after a bipartisan fix addressing other insurer concerns.
And that's quite a condition; President Donald Trump has signaled he'd rather see the ACA fail than fix it.
But the idea of a bipartisan fix isn't as far-fetched as it once was. Repeal-and-replace is likely dead. GOP senators are calling for hearings on market stabilization. And sabotaging the health-care system would be shockingly callous and could backfire politically.
A test of the administration's intentions will come later this week, when a cost-sharing payment is due. UnitedHealth should be watching.
The company's first ACA sojourn didn't go well. Imperfections in the law, along with Republican efforts, undermined several provisions that protected insurers. Growth didn't always meet expectations. And patients were sicker than anticipated.
UnitedHealth lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the exchanges in 2015 and 2016. It announced last April it would mostly pull out of the individual market in 2017. That has flattered its results, boosting operating margins and earnings.
The exit has also shifted investor focus to the firm's consistently growing Optum health-care services and technology unit. UnitedHealth's shares are up 49 percent since it confirmed its ACA retreat. But now that the company has retrenched, there's a case to be made for expanding once more.