The company said losses in that business were within expectations in the third quarter, news that boosted the recently weak shares of competitors like Anthem Inc , which plan to stay in those markets next year. Shares of UnitedHealth, which beat Wall Street third-quarter earnings estimates, raised its full-year outlook and signaled 2017 earnings could also top analyst expectations, surged over 7 percent. Earlier this year UnitedHealth said it would pull out of most of the individual insurance business created under U.S. President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law because it was unable to make money on the plans.
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UnitedHealth sees more growth in 2017 when it exits Obamacare