UnitedHealth Group says its Medicare Advantage business is outperforming initial margin targets for 2026, crediting deliberate financial recovery moves that meant fewer members this year.
Speaking at a Wells Fargo conference Sept. 9, CFO Wayne DeVeydt said the company “really needed to make some tough decisions around the durability of the products we had, coupled with what we thought were sustainable margins over time.”
He said UnitedHealth expects to land in the upper half of its 2% to 4% long-term MA margin range this year, with “all trends pointing in the right direction.”
Ahead of the 2027 open enrollment period, Mr. DeVeydt said the company’s pricing and benefits for its MA plans will be “very competitive,” though he noted the insurer is still “rightsizing” some of its products.
He added that the improved margin position gives UnitedHealth room to invest in fourth-quarter star ratings initiatives and commission strategies ahead of open enrollment.
The comments come after a turbulent stretch for the nation’s largest MA insurer. UnitedHealth first disclosed financial issues in its MA business in April 2025, saying it had been caught off guard by utilization rates roughly twice as high as expected, along with performance problems at its Optum Health business.
In response, UnitedHealthcare prioritized profit margins over growing its membership, pricing its 2026 MA plans for roughly 10% medical cost growth, leaning more heavily into HMO-based plans and deploying earlier clinical interventions, payment integrity programs and provider network exits, along with cutting broker commissions on some plans.
In July, UnitedHealthcare said it expected to lose 1.1 million MA members by the end of 2026, down from earlier projections of 1.3 million to 1.4 million. MA membership stood at roughly 7.6 million as of June 30, compared with 8.4 million a year earlier. UnitedHealthcare CEO Tim Noel said on the company’s second quarter earnings call that the insurer expects Medicare margins to surpass 3% by the end of the year.
In 2026, MA insurers industrywide trimmed benefits and exited unprofitable markets, with more of the same expected next year. A HealthScape Advisors survey of more than 35 health plan executives published in February found that nearly 70% expect benefits to become less generous in 2027.
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