UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it is facing DOJ investigations over its Medicare billing practices, adding to a string of setbacks for a company that owns the nation's largest and most powerful private insurer. In a securities filing, the company said that it has started complying with formal criminal and civil requests from the DOJ, and that it reached out to the department after reports of the probes surfaced. UnitedHealth also said it has launched a third-party review of its business policies and performance metrics.
Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Molina Healthcare from Overweight to Neutral on Friday, while significantly reducing its price target to $210.00 from $312.00. The stock, currently trading at $158.22, has fallen over 51% in the past year and is hovering near its 52-week low of $157.48. According to InvestingPro data, the stock appears oversold based on technical indicators. The downgrade reflects concerns about Molina's future margin performance, particularly in its Medicaid business, according to the research note from the investment firm. The investment firm identified several risk factors that could impact its price target, including potential underperformance in year-over-year Medicaid margins and pending policy changes across Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace segments.
Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents will see their premiums increase by 7% to 12% next year. The Division of Insurance approved 2026 rates for six insurers in the merged market, which provides a subset of Bay Staters with health insurance through individual and small business plans. Costs will rise for customers on all six of those carriers, albeit with less growth than the companies originally proposed, following negotiations with state regulators and scrutiny from figures including Gov. Maura Healey.
The department also rejected proposals from BCBSMA and WellSense Health Plan for increases that regulators dubbed too large. BCBSMA, which has about 166,000 merged market members, sought to increase rates by an average of 12.9% next year. Executives said the hike was necessary to offset rising costs charged by providers and the pharmaceutical sector, which had contributed to a $400 million operating loss in 2024 — the company's largest ever.
President Donald Trump claimed to be planning a massive reduction in drug costs for Americans, but critics were quick to point out his numbers don't add up. In a reception with members of Congress on Tuesday, Trump spoke about lowering drug prices for Americans at a time when cuts to programs like Medicaid are on the horizon. In doing so, Trump promised some truly staggering figures. 'We will have reduced drug prices by 1000%, by 1,100%, 1,200%, 1,300%, 1,400%, 700%, 600%. Not 30% or 40% or 50%. But numbers likes of which you've never even dreamed of.... We're gonna get the drug prices down not 30% or 40%, which would be great. Not 50% or 60%. No, we're gonna get them down 1,000%, 600%, 500%, 1,500%. Numbers that are not even thought to be achievable.' Trump's comments left social media users scratching their heads. Users asked X's AI chatbot Grok about Trump's claims. Grok variously called them 'mathematically impossible,' 'hyperbolic,' and in one case, 'total bullsh**t.'
A bill aimed at giving veterans easier access to private doctors using VA funding has advanced out of a key House panel after stark partisan debate. Cost issues scuttled a couple of controversial provisions from the GOP-led bill advanced Wednesday compared to the version of the bill that was introduced earlier this year. But the legislation still stoked strong opposition from Democrats accusing Republicans of trying to privatize the VA as Republicans insisted they are trying to give veterans more options in their care.
Senate Republicans say they are working on a bipartisan health package to lower drug and health insurance costs, a development that's news to some Democrats who remain skeptical that their GOP colleagues will work with them. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is leading the talks, with a particular focus on more transparency from pharmacy benefit managers, so-called upcoding practices in Medicare Advantage and other health items.