A person walks into the UniVista Insurance company office where people are signing up for health care plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in Miami, Florida. Getty Images

There could be a light at the end of a dark tunnel for Obamacare insurers. Health insurers may finally be seeing improved results on their Obamacare plans just as a newly elected president is poised to follow through on promises to end the controversial coverage program, a new report suggests.

An analysis out Thursday says that health insurers are expected in 2016 "to start reversing" financial losses on their Obamacare business after "hitting bottom" in 2015.

And 2017 "will likely see continued improvement" for those insurers selling individual health plans, "with more insurers getting close to breakeven or better," according to the report by Standard & Poor's Global Ratings. The report also says big price increases for Obamacare plans in 2017 were likely a "one-time pricing correction." And S&P said that while it expects insurers to ask for premium hikes for 2018, it also believes that "the average level of increase requested will be well below the 2017 hike" of 25 percent for a key type of Obamacare plans. But "what will happen in 2018 and beyond is somewhat uncertain at this time," the report says. S&P analysts note that promises by President-elect Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act with some kind of other health-care legislation "will likely create structural changes to the individual marketplace." The details and timing of a replacement for Obamacare, and insurers' ability to adapt to changes in the law, "will be key" to how well they do financially from then on, the analysts said.

