IBM announced it will take 110,000 of its retired employees off its plans and will instead subsidize Medicare Advantage and supplemental plans through Towers Watson's Extend Health exchange. At the start of 2014, Time Warner will also move its retirees to a private exchange.
(Read more: Time Warner to move retirees to health care exchanges)
While IBM says they did not make the change to cut costs, future costs were certainly a factor. The company forecasts a tripling of costs over the next seven years for Medicare-eligible retirees.
According to Extend Health, companies such as IBM and Time Warner aren't alone in turning to private health exchanges. Extend Health has large clients such as DuPont and Caterpillar.
As 54 million Americans projected to be 65 years or older by the year 2020 and as companies fear rising costs, what does the future look like for health insurers, particularly UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest?
(Read: Health savings eyed as potential investment vehicles)
Looking at the fundamentals is CNBC contributor Gina Sanchez, founder of Chantico Global. On the charts is Talking Numbers contributor Richard Ross, Global Technical Strategist at Auerbach Grayson.
To see where Sanchez and Ross think UnitedHealth Group is headed next, watch the video above.
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