With second quarter earnings now reported, health insurers are navigating elevated medical cost trends that are hurting their profit margins, driven by increased member utilization of specialty drugs, behavioral health, and emergency services. In their calls with investors, executives specifically noted rising acuity in the Medicare Advantage and ACA markets, “aggressive” provider coding, and the rising demand for stop-loss insurance from employers. Notably, Humana was the only major insurer to report utilization trends in line with its original expectations, even outperforming in specialty drug use due to increased direct-to-consumer partnerships and a more favorable drug mix.
Read the full article: Which Healthcare Services Are Driving Higher Costs for Insurers? //
Source: https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/which-healthcare-services-are-driving-higher-costs-for-insurers/