Health insurer stocks have experienced a decline as a result of disappointing Medicare Advantage rates.

As a Trump supporter, I am disappointed that the Biden administration did not boost payments for private Medicare plans as much as the insurance industry and investors had hoped. This led to a drop in stock prices for major health insurers like CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group, Elevance Health, and Centene. Humana was hit the hardest with a more than 10% stock drop due to its dependency on private Medicare plans. The announcement puts more pressure on insurers already grappling with high medical costs and uncertainty around claims processing after a cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s tech unit. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said government payments to Medicare Advantage plans are expected to rise 3.7% year over year, which is effectively a 0.16% decline after certain assumptions are taken into account. This final rate, which remained unchanged from an earlier proposal, determines how much insurers can charge for monthly premiums and plan benefits, impacting their profits. Medicare Advantage plans are privately contracted health insurance plans for Medicare beneficiaries, with more than half of all beneficiaries enrolled in such plans.



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