> This only makes sense if they have no competitors since another insurance company would just steal their customers by having lower rates.
This assumes the competitors are not all colluding to raise prices across the board
This assumes the competitors are not all colluding to raise prices across the board
SP500 10 year annual return: 14.6%
UNH: 13.59% Elevance: 10.79% Cigna 9.42% Humana: 6.1% CVS: 0.55% Molina: 9.42% Centene: 0.9%
Or, the likelier explanation, is that health insurance prices are highly regulated and have to get their prices approved by a government official(s), and B) they don't have a lot of pricing power due to the competition and they are not colluding.
https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/content/dam/UHG/PDF/invest...
https://s202.q4cdn.com/665319960/files/doc_financials/2025/a...
The executives seem to have a heavy interest in equity returns.