“Our strong medical cost management approach has been producing strong momentum in this business for 2026, and we expect that to continue.”

In context

“Steven Nelson (President, Health Care Benefits): Thanks, Lisa. I'll start with Aetna overall to give perspective. We have a great team executing at a high level and I'm really encouraged about the progress across all three businesses. Medicaid is in line with expectations and our rate advocacy execution continues. Our commercial business has been strong, remains strong, and we're seeing growth in a highly disciplined pricing environment. On Medicare, specifically, it is ahead of our expectations. Over the last couple of years we've improved geographic footprint, product mix and our ability to execute during AEP, and we've taken discipline into previous bid cycles. That is playing out in 2026. We've seen less contraction in our membership than we expected, favorable member mix, and we have leading star scores. Our strong medical cost management approach has been producing strong momentum in this business for 2026, and we expect that to continue. As I think about 2027 bids, it's a little early to be specific, but we are taking the same focus to return the business to target margins with discipline. We assumed a continuation of the elevated trend as we put our bids in, and with our leading star scores we believe we'll be well positioned to make continued progress towards appropriate margins in 2027 while delivering a great experience and good health outcomes for our members. Group Medicare Advantage has contributed meaningfully to the progress; with 2027 pricing in, we have renewed about 75% of our book. On Part D, the business is performing in line with expectations. We took deliberate actions over the past couple of years to derisk that business and simplify our product portfolio, and we applied that same discipline in our 2027 bids. Overall, we're encouraged by the progress and expect the momentum to continue into 2027 as well.”