Where the math is defensible.

Medicare Advantage at the Reset: V28 Risk Adjustment, Star Ratings, and Insurer Profit Through 2026

The April 2025 CMS Final Rate Notice locked in a 5.06 percent effective rate change for contract year 2026, the final year of V28 phase in, and the second consecutive cycle in which Humana, UnitedHealth, CVS Aetna, Elevance, Centene, and Cigna issued downward earnings revisions tied to medical loss ratio normalization.

Medicare Advantage covers roughly 54 percent of eligible Medicare beneficiaries in 2025, about 34 million enrollees on a fee for service base of 67 million, but the program is the most stressed health insurance line in the United States. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published the Calendar Year 2026 Final Rate Notice on A...