employers

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

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. 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 Medicare Advantage Reform Researchers at RAND surveyed Medicare Advantage experts about potential policy ideas and reforms. Showing the complexities of reform, the survey didn’t identify a single policy proposal that rose to the top and would benefit the three stakeholder groups surveyed. Three themes did rise to the top in terms of benefiting enrollees without significant disruption for plans or the government. #medicareadvantage #reform https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/look-stakeholder-perspectives-medicare-advantage-reform Other Healthcare News A number of other healthcare topics from today: Prime Therapeutics, one of the largest pharmacy

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/ Health Plan Enrollment Declines Health insurers’ membership declined 2.8% year-over-year to about 312.5 million people in 1H 2026. Losses in the

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/ Optum and Express Scripts Grow Pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) Optum Rx and Express Scripts each hold 23% of the PBM market, up from 21% and 17%, respectively. CVS Caremark fell from

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

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: 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/ 340B Pilot Proceeds After an initial failure and a second published rule, the Health Resources and Services Administration is ready to launch