Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Regional Nonprofit Insurers See Largest Dip In Operating Margins
Modern Healthcare: 71% Of Regional Nonprofit Insurers Ended 2024 With Operating Loss
Threatened by shrinking operating margins, regional nonprofit insurance companies are falling behind their larger competitors, according to a new report. In 2024, 71% of regional nonprofit insurers ended the year with an operating loss, according to an analysis published Wednesday by HealthScape Advisors, a division of the consulting company Chartis. By comparison, 53% posted operating losses in 2023, and just 22% did in 2020. (Tong, 9/25)
Roll Call: Health Insurance Marketplace Rate Hikes Top 20 Percent In Most States, Cantwell Says
People who receive insurance through the top marketplace plan in most states can expect sticker shock this fall, according to data compiled by the office of Sen. Maria Cantwell. Cantwell, D-Wash., who’s urging congressional leadership and President Donald Trump to find a way to extend expiring health care subsidies, on Thursday issued a snapshot report on rate increase requests from insurers across the country. In 29 states, rates for the top marketplace insurer are expected to increase at least 20 percent next year, according to the data. (Raman, 9/25)
In Medicare news —
The Hill: AstraZeneca Petitions Supreme Court Over Medicare Drug Prices
Advertisement: 0:15AstraZeneca has asked the Supreme Court to hear its case challenging the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program created through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). According to the Supreme Court’s docket, AstraZeneca’s petition was filed on Sept. 19. The company has asked the court to consider “whether the IRA implicates an interest of pharmaceutical manufacturers that is protected by the Due Process Clause.” (Choi, 9/25)
Modern Healthcare: Humana To End Medicare Advantage Commissions For Plans
Humana will not pay third-party marketers for enrolling new members in many of its wider-network Medicare Advantage products for 2026. The company will not pay agents and brokers for signing up new members for 288 plans across 46 states and the District of Columbia, according to a notice Humana sent to agents and brokers on Monday. About 80% of these plans are PPOs. (Tepper, 9/25)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Audit Rule Tossed By Federal Court
A federal court has tossed a rule outlining how auditors must review Medicare Advantage insurance companies for overpayments, adding uncertainty to the federal government’s plan to audit every plan annually. On Thursday, Judge Reed O’Connor, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth, vacated the 2023 Medicare Risk Adjustment Data Validation, or RADV, rule, on the grounds that regulators violated the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. (Tepper, 9/25)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Insurers Revamp Supplemental Benefits For 2026
Supplemental benefit vendors are bracing for another challenging year as Medicare Advantage insurers discontinue plans and downscale the perks they offer members. Health insurance companies such as UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare and Elevance Health have announced they will eliminate unprofitable plans and pare back supplemental benefits in 2026 as they seek to restore profit margins amid high spending and stricter regulation. (Tepper, 9/25)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Has Revamped AHEAD. Here's What That Means.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has revamped and extended a hospital and primary care value-based care model intended to align payment incentives across payers and providers. CMS announced it is expanding and modifying the Achieving Healthcare Efficiency through Accountable Design, or AHEAD, model it unveiled in 2023, and adding new geography-based elements that could shake up how fee-for-service Medicare enrollees receive care. (Early, 9/25)
