Key Takeaways Shares of health insurers dropped Wednesday after the CEO of UnitedHealth Group warned about lower premium payments as Medicaid rolls shrink.UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty reportedly told a conference in New York that the health insurance industry will face a "disturbance" because of the changes in Medicaid patient numbers.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is leading other US insurers' stocks lower after the company's CEO, Andrew Witty, flagged a "disturbance" related to Medicaid reimbursement rates. After the expiration of a COVID-19 policy that mandated that states maintain enrollment for those covered by government Medicaid programs,

Major health insurers’ stocks dropped sharply Wednesday after UnitedHealth Group executives forecast a “disturbance” in the Medicaid business.

Health insurance stocks dove after UnitedHealth Group Inc. said it sees a “disturbance” coming as states pare enrollees in their Medicaid health programs following the end of the pandemic emergency.

Shares of U.S. health insurers fell on Wednesday after UnitedHealth Group cited a near-term disturbance around reimbursement rates for Medicaid due to ongoing program-wide enrollment hurdles that began about a year ago.