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UnitedHealth Group Reports Strong Financials

UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest insurer, reported $4.1 billion in profit for Q3 2026, up from $2.3 billion in Q3 2025. And YTD 2026 profit is now $15.9 billion vs. $12 billion through Q3 2025. Revenues dipped slightly year over year in Q3 to $112.7B, in part due to lower Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment. Revenue is up through three quarters.

United saw improvement in its medical loss ratio (MLR) in Q3, reporting 88.4%, driven by medical cost management, benefit design changes, pricing discipline, and care delivery enhancements such as integrated value-based care. Services subsidiary Optum’s earnings increased 48% to $3.7 billion.

Executives said they are confident heading into MA’s open enrollment and see opportunities for growth in lucrative markets, including Special Needs Plans (SNPs). United sees great pressures from the No Surprises Act arbitration process.

In other news, Humana will enter into a joint venture with investment firm BlackRock to manage and operate its roughly 150 CenterWell primary care clinics for seniors. This replaces a deal with Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS).

And Centene is launching a new program aimed at streamlining the prior authorization process for some providers by introducing so-called gold carding.

Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/unitedhealth-group-beats-street-41b-profit-q3 and https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/humana-blackrock-strike-28b-deal-manage-centerwell-clinics and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-centene-gold-card-program-prior-authorizations/ and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-humana-blackrock-centerwell-clinic-private-equity/ and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/humana-enters-28b-primary-care-joint-venture-with-blackrock/832872/ and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/unitedhealth-q3-2026-profits-soar-medicare-advantage-strategy/832827/

#healthplans #margins

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-unitedhealth-q3-earnings-optum-health

Stars News: Clover Gets Special Treament; Alignment Sues

Coming off of Thursday’s 2027 Star Ratings release, two major developments have occurred: (1) Clover Health got special treatment in Star Year (SY) 2027 calculations and (2) Alignment Healthcare is suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) over its 2027 ratings.

In a release, Clover Health noted that CMS calculated its 2027 Star rating for its PPO plan by excluding the 20 measures a judge struck in Clover’s 2026 Star Ratings lawsuit. It was the only Medicare Advantage (MA) contract to get such treatment. All others were rated on all 45 measures. CMS hid the change from other plans until it became known in the Clover release. Clover received a 5.0 rating for the contract.

Alignment Healthcare sued CMS today over its 2027 ratings, alleging they were determined “in flagrant violation” of statute. Alignment has filed in the same federal court in the District of Columbia it is litigating its 2026 ratings. Alignment says CMS “has completely departed from Congress’s vision of leveraging predictable, valid measures developed with input from providers, plans, and the public.” It argues many of the same things it has been putting forth in its 2026 suit, including regulatory violations. In the Clover case, a judge struck 10 measures for statutory reasons and 10 for regulatory deficiencies.

Just 25% of Alignment’s members would now be in plans with 4 or more stars for 2027, down from 100% in 2026. Alignment says it will lose more than $200 million due to CMS’ faulty calculations.

Modern Healthcare also has winners and losers in terms of Star Years 2027.

Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/alignment-healthcare-sues-cms-over-its-2027-medicare-advantage-star-ratings and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-alignment-health-star-ratings-medicare-advantage/ and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-medicare-advantage-star-ratings-2027-cms/

#cms #medicareadvantage #quality #stars

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-cms-clover-health-medicare-advantage-2027

— Marc S. Ryan

AHA Sues On 340B Pilot

The American Hospital Association (AHA) has again sued a federal regulator to block the second 340B rebate pilot, set to begin January 1. Hospitals say it will cost them more than $1 billion because the regulation underestimates labor hours and implementation expenses. The first pilot was struck by a court. The government issued a second regulation. All 340B covered entities will be in the pilot for certain in-scope drugs. Studies suggest the facilities do not pass on discounts to needy Americans. The suit seems like a stretch, but who knows what will happen in a post-Chevron legal world.

#340b #drugpricing

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-aha-hrsa-340b-rebate-pilot-lawsuit/

SY 2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Released

Medicare Advantage Star Ratings are out for SY 2027 and the news is not great. In general, the industry performed somewhat lower than SY 2026 despite those surges in cut points coming out of Plan Preview 2. The data below compares Sy 2027 to the revised “better of” ratings for SY 2026.

• The average rating across 508 contracts drops from 4.01 to 3.99.
• In SY 2026, 44.38% of contracts were 4-Star or greater. Now it is just 37.01%.
• Enrollment in 4-Star or greater contracts increases from 67.16% to 70.73%.
• Just 6 of 15 5-Star plans in SY 2027 are returning high performers.
• Here are the ups and downs:
  — 88 contracts increased their rating
  — 183 contracts saw drops in their rating
  — 197 contracts have the same rating
  — 40 contracts eligible for ratings have no rating in the data yet
• Just 3 of the top 10 and 5 of the top 20 parent organizations with the highest enrollment increased their enrollment-weighted ratings. In the top 10, those are Humana, Kaiser Permanente, and BCBS Michigan.
• Humana moved its biggest enrollment plan back to 4.0, flipping its 4-Star and greater enrollment from the doldrums to 95%. United saw its 4-Star and greater enrollment drop to 68%. CVS dropped to 70%.

Additional article: https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/medicare-advantage-plans-with-5-stars-in-2027/

#medicareadvantage #stars #quality #cms

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/cms-about-71-mapd-plan-enrollees-coverage-four-or-more-stars-2027

Hospitals Penalized For Readmissions

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 2,334 hospitals, about 80% of those evaluated, are being penalized under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program in fiscal 2027. CMS said 244 hospitals, or 8.4%, received penalties of 1% or more. Ten hospitals will face the maximum 3% penalty, with 34 facing penalties of 2% or more. Most hospitals — 71.8% — will see penalties below 1%. The share of hospitals receiving no penalty will drop to 19.8% (578 hospitals) from 21.8% (641) in 2026.

The Fiscal 2027 round of penalties used both Medicare Advantage and fee-for-service data, but penalties continue to apply only to traditional Medicare payments. The performance period included discharges from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025.

#hospitals #quality #readmissions

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/cms-penalizes-2334-hospitals-for-high-readmissions-6-things-to-know/

Insurers Backing Away From Medicaid

Given the looming budget cuts to hit Medicaid over the next decade, there are signs that some health plans are backing out of certain Medicaid managed care contracts. Insurers such as Centene and Elevance Health have walked away from Medicaid managed care contracts as costs rise. This has led to other plans picking up the slack in affected states. Providers complain that successors may not have enough providers in their network.

Plans have said there are some good signs coming from certain states who are increasing rates to deal with financial problems in managed care. Louisiana increased rates. It appears that Arkansas and D.C. may have done so as well.

#medicaid #managedcare #obbba

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-centene-elevance-medicaid-states-providers/

Stricter Price Transparency

The Trump administration finalized its proposed rule that would make the data files mandated under price transparency regulations more usable. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the regulation will improve the standardization, accuracy, and accessibility of the data plans and hospitals submit. It also would hold healthcare entities accountable for submitting incomplete or inaccurate data.

In addition, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson said his agency will crack down on hospitals that are not providing complete and accurate price data, whether or not they are compliant with CMS’ transparency requirements. The FTC noticed 24 large hospitals and health systems for potential violations of consumer protection laws.

In part, the regulation removes the submission of junk data tied to  infrequently applied rates or ghost networks. The administration did not finalize certain proposals that would have made price disclosures even more robust.

Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-finalizes-updates-price-transparency-regulations-aim-improve-usability and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-cms-insurer-price-transparency-rule/ and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hhs-health-insurer-price-transparency-overhaul-final-rule/832105/ and https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/ftc-warns-hospitals-against-deceptive-pricing-practices/

#pricetransparency #hospitals #healthplans

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/ftc-sends-price-transparency-warning-letters-24-large-hospital-systems-price

PDP Premium Increases And Hidden Hurt

Healthcare policy group KFF examined the standalone Part D (PDP) market. Of course, the Trump administration says the end of the suspect premium stabilization program will not mean major impacts to beneficiaries, but hidden hurt can be seen in the details.

KFF finds that PDP availability and premiums for 2027 show a mixed picture. There are modest premium increases for many Part D enrollees for their current plan, but steeper increases are in store for others. There also is a reduction in the number of PDP options for the fourth year in a row.

KFF’s key takeaways include:

• The number of stand-alone PDPs available from 11 in 2026 to 9 in 2027, on average.
• Enrollees in six of the eight PDPs that will continue to be offered on a national basis in 2027 will see premium reductions in some states if they keep their current plan.
• But enrollees in many other states will see higher premiums for these same plans if they don’t switch.
• There will be no zero premium PDPs available for Part D enrollees who do not receive low-income subsidies (LIS) in 2027. About 4 million who paid no monthly premium in 2026 will face higher premiums in 2027 whether they keep their current plan or switch. This is a clear sign that the stabilization fund’s end did have impact.

In related news, Devoted Health has garnered major financing for expansions of their Medicare advantage business.

Additional article: https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/medicare-advantage/devoted-health-closes-1-2b-financing-deal-amid-expansion-push/

#partd #pdp #kff #medicare

https://www.kff.org/medicare/many-medicare-part-d-stand-alone-drug-plan-enrollees-will-see-modest-premium-increases-for-2027-but-others-could-pay-much-more-if-they-dont-switch-plans/

More MA Retrenchment News

Articles and analyses continue on the recent release of the landscape files and now with the go live of 2027 benefits on the Medicare Plan Finder. These new assessments continue to speak to the commotion under the seeming stability.

Of large plans, only one, Molina, is fully exiting Medicare Advantage (MA) mainstream coverage. It will continue to offer Special Needs Plans (SNPs). Second-place Humana has the largest county footprint (2,694) followed by leader UnitedHealthcare (2,655). But all of the major plans are paring considerably in certain counties, while growing in others. For the most part, most big plans have modestly smaller overall offerings, with Centene being an outlier.

Analyses now seem to say that the largest number of people ever will face terminations of their existing plans. Numbers vary, but the impact loosk to be 3 million or more.

MA plans argue they are preserving core benefits key to seniors, including $0 premium plans. But benefits are being pared to ensure a return to investor-demanded margins. Supplemental dental and so-called Part B givebacks are noticeably smaller.

Healthcare policy group KFF says that Medicare beneficiaries will have the option of 28 MA prescription drug (MA-PD) plans in 2027, a decline from 32 options in 2026 (excluding employer plans and special needs plans not available for general enrollment).

Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/focus-hmos-c-snps-look-medicare-advantage-landscape-2027 and https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/medicare-advantage-benefit-cuts-2027-unh-hum/831861 and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/insurance/mh-unitedhealth-aetna-humana-medicare-advantage-plans and https://www.kff.org/medicare/the-average-medicare-beneficiary-has-28-medicare-advantage-prescription-drug-plan-options-for-2027/

#medicaladvantage #enrollment

https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/medicare-advantage/medicare-advantage-looks-stable-for-2027-underneath-its-shifting/

GLOBE Model Finalized

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized GLOBE, a mandatory five-year model linking Medicare Part B drug prices to cost benchmarks in 19 developed countries. The program starts in January and lasts for five years.

The model targets drugs in oncology, rheumatology, immunology, ophthalmology and endocrinology. The parallel Part D program is not yet finalized. The models build on various initiatives undertaken by the Trump administration.

Two problems here: GLOBE will reduce fee-for-service costs and effectively reduce Medicare Advantage payments without giving plans any lower costs. This could further reduce benefits in the program over time. As well, the final rule exempts from the model drug manufacturers in the parallel GENEROUS model for Medicaid. Drug makers struck price deals in Medicaid with the president. While I support Trump’s overall efforts, I think that is a mistake.

Additional articles: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-cms-globe-medicare-part-b-drug-model/ and https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/cms-finalizes-new-drug-pricing-model-7-notes/

#drugpricing #partb #partd #medicare

https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press  releases/cms-finalizes-new-mandatory-drug-payment-model-deliver-lower-drug-prices-beneficiaries-original