Healthcare DIVE February 25, 2025
Operating income fell for all but two insurance divisions operated by major payers in the fourth quarter.
Health insurers wrapped up 2024 in rough shape, recording falling profits from insurance businesses and releasing guidance suggesting that medical costs could continue climbing this year.
In the fourth quarter, payers continued to slog through elevated medical spending in Medicare and Medicaid. Higher costs popped up in once-safe commercially insured populations, too, suggesting American workers are sicker than before.
All told, major publicly traded insurers’ medical loss ratios, key metrics of spending on patient care, rose an average of 2.8 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024.
That’s a massive change. Investors keep close tabs on...
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