Health Insurers Performing Better But There’s Potential Trouble Ahead
Health insurance companies including UnitedHealthcare, CVS Healths Aetna, Centene and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans owned by Elevance Health are seeing lower costs from patients submitting claims. But theres trouble ahead for plans offering government-subsidized health insurance as Americans drop coverage or can no longer afford it due in part to healthcare policy changes by the Republican Congress and Donald Trump White House. Take the nation‘s largest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, owned by UnitedHealth Group, which last month reported a medical loss ratio, which is the percentage of premium revenue that goes toward medical costs, below 85% for the first quarter of this year. And Wall Street was thrilled and the company’s stock jumped. Most health insurers have been battling rising medical expenses from customers in their health plans for the better part of the last two years. Their medical loss ratios, also called benefit expense or medical care ratios, have been around 90% or higher in most cases. Last year, UnitedHealthcares full year adjusted 2025 medical care ratio was 88.9% compared to 85.5% in 2024. And its adjusted medical care ratio was more than 91% in the fourth quarter. But UnitedHealths “first quarter 2026 medical care ratio was 83.9% compared to 84.8% in