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Employees See Healthcare Costs Surge Healthcare policy group KFF’s annual employer survey finds that employees now pay $7,471 on average annually for family health coverage, up 9% or $621 from 2025. Overall premiums combining employer and employee shares increased 5% or $1,310 to $28,303. Employees at small firms with less than 200 workers contribute $9,687 annually toward family coverage. That’s $2,847 more than workers in large firms. KFF finds that family premiums and workers’ contributions have risen at similar rates (28% and 26%, respectively) since 2021. This is comparable to wage and inflation growth. The average deductible for U.S. workers is approaching $2,000 before insurance kicks in. In other news, the Commonwealth Fund’s biennial insurance survey finds that the uninsured rate for working age American increased to 11.2% from 8.9%. The uninsured rate of young adults (19-34) increased from 11% to 16% over the past two years. Decreases in Medicaid

Elevance Reports Q3 Financials Elevance Health is boosting its outlook for the year as it beat The Street for Q3 2026. Elevance earned $1.4 billion in profit for the quarter, up slightly from $1.2 billion a year ago. Profits through the first nine months of the year were $4.6 billion, down year-over-year from $5.1 billion. Revenues were $50.4 billion in Q3, about the $50.1 billion from the prior year quarter. Revenues through three quarters were $149.8 billion, up from $148.3 billion a year ago. Elevance says 2026 is a “trough year” for the company’s Medicaid business and that there are positive signs in 2027. Medicaid is now ahead of outlook. But Medicaid is facing looming turbulence from the massive budget cuts that have passed impacting the next ten years. The overall medical loss ratio for the quarter was 90.6%, compared to 91.7% a year ago. The insurance unit was slightly

House Bill Would Overhaul Medicare Advantage Stars A House bill calls for the overhaul of the Medicare Advantage (MA) Stars program. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-PA, is sponsoring the Medicare Advantage Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Rating Systems Act (MA STARS Act). It directs the federal government to rewrite Star ratings policy beginning with the 2031 contract year. CMS would have to exclude any measure that is unrelated to clinical quality, outcomes, or experience. Member surveys would be reformed. Measures that no longer distinguish performance among most contracts would be barred. New measures could be added only if they relate to clinical quality, outcomes or experience. The truth is that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servies (CMS) has implemented most of the bill’s parameters. It has promulgated a rule that eliminates operational measures as well as those that do not have substantive differences between contracts. The CMS Stars restructure is

Healthcare On The Trail The midterms are two weeks away and Becker’s Payer covers how Democratic candidates are working healthcare issues into their policies and messaging and Republicans are defending themselves. Healthcare changes being discussed on the stump include: On the last issue, a Century Foundation survey of voters from earlier this year found that 67% think preventing hospitals from charging excessive prices should be a top federal priority when it comes to cutting costs. About 66% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats believe this. A Modern Healthcare articles says Republicans are attacking fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid and the Exchanges as a key healthcare message. A healthcare policy group KFF poll finds that the messaging resonates with 44% of voters. At the same time, Florida and Texas have about 40% of all Exchange enrollments and the GOP could be hurt here due to enrollment losses. Additional article: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-republicans-healthcare-fraud-midterm-elections/

Proposed Rule Reforms Provider Directories, PBMs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a far-reaching rule that tackles years-long issues with Medicare Advantage (MA) networks and provider directories, medication compliance, and pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) compensation. These provisions were largely in the 2026 appropriations bill. In terms of provider directories and networks, CMS proposed these reforms for MA plans: PBM reforms include: Regarding medication adherence, the rule codifies a reduction in generic drug copayments for dual eligibles at or below the federal poverty limit from a $1 maximum to $0, beginning Jan. 1. The removal is expected to improve medication compliance. Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-proposes-ma-ghost-network-pbm-transparency-requirements and https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/cms-proposes-public-scores-for-medicare-advantage-provider-directories-flat-fee-limits-for-pbms/  and https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/medicare-program-implementation-sections-6219-6220-6224-consolidated-appropriations-act-2026-cms #medicareadvantage #healthplans #pbms #providers #dualeligibles #partd #providerdirectories #networks #transparency https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-cms-medicare-advantage-provider-directory-pbm/ Centene Expands CHOICE For Employees, Enrollees Centene is going all in on the Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense Arrangements (CHOICE) healthcare program, which was formerly known as Individual

Medicare Advantage 2027 Retrenchment Examined In a new analysis, actuarial and consulting firm Wakely finds that more than 6.3 million Medicare Advantage (MA) members (almost 19%) are affected by plan terminations or crosswalks for 2027. Wakely says approximately 3 million members (about 9%) are enrolled in plans that will close without an automatic transition to another plan. Others had their plan ended, but moved to another plan within the sponsor. In some cases, those plans fit the members’ needs. In other cases, they may not. Wakely also reported on the major growth in Chronic Care Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs). They increased 34% from 2026 to 2027, following 56% growth in 2026. These are disease specific plans that do not have all of the strict compliance rules that Dual Eligible SNPs (D-SNPs) have. The government wants to force the C-SNPs to obey many of the same rules as D-SNPs. Wakely also

Trump Admin Continues Culling Exchanges The Trump administration announced two initiatives to further reduce Exchange enrollment. A new proposed rule would set stricter definitions of who qualifies for tax credits, toughen eligibility verification requirements, and further narrow access to financial assistance for noncitizens. Under the proposal, the federal government would not extend subsidies to people who lose Medicaid coverage due to noncompliance with the work requirements, regardless of income. Further, the Trump administration announced it has cut subsidies for 189,000 people after it found duplicate beneficiaries on Medicaid and Medicare as well as enrollees who were deceased. About $738 million will be saved in improper payments. Another 3,500 could be culled. Last, healthcare policy group KFF finds that enrollment on the Exchanges dropped by more than 4.5 million people over the past year. Enrollment fell from 25.2 million in 2025 to 20.5 million in June 2026, an 18 percent drop.

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

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

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/ Stars Results Details More news on the 2027 Medicare Advantage (MA) Stars front since Thursday’s release. I will have a deep-dive blog on Monday. Humana, which suffered a major ratings collapse two years ago, saw its percentage of members in 4+ Star plans skyrocket to