By Catherine Dunn
Humana reports fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday as the insurer and its peers continue to grapple with proposed Medicare Advantage payment rates that sparked a selloff late last month.
Shares of Humana are down 31% since Jan. 26, when the federal government announced plans to keep rates nearly flat in 2027 for the insurers that offer Medicare Advantage health plans to seniors.
The proposed payment rate could be revised when the final rate announcement is published in the spring. In the meantime, analysts have peppered insurers with questions about the initial notice, which UnitedHealth Group called disappointing.
Humana is one of the largest players in Medicare Advantage, the privately-run alternative to traditional Medicare coverage offered by the government. As of Sept. 30, Humana served 5.8 million members across individual and group MA plans, according to company filings. Premiums for those members comprise the bulk of Humana's revenues.
In 2025, Humana's stock rose about 1%, holding steady after a drop of more than 40% in 2024, when higher medical costs took a toll on shares.
On Wednesday, Wall Street expects Humana to report fourth-quarter revenue of $32.0 billion and an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of $4.00 per share, according to FactSet. For the full year, the consensus estimate places adjusted earnings per share at $17.08.
For the fourth quarter, analysts also expect to see a 93.5% medical-loss-ratio, a metric that tracks insurer spending on health claims as a portion of premiums. That estimate puts the loss ratio about 2 percentage points higher than the same quarter a year prior.
Other large Medicare Advantage companies have yet to fully recover from the recent market plunge. Since the January rate announcement, UnitedHealth is down 22%, Elevance Health is down nearly 14%, and CVS Health is down almost 10%.
Write to Catherine Dunn at catherine.dunn@dowjones.com
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February 10, 2026 17:15 ET (22:15 GMT)
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