UPDATED: July 29 at 1:40 p.m.
As it continues to push toward its 2028 margin goals, Humana executives said Wednesday that the insurer is planning additional Medicare Advantage market exits for 2027.
During the company's earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Celeste Mellet said that while it is "too early to provide many specifics regarding our bid strategy," the approach to market exits is designed to retain as many members as it can while also supporting that margin expansion.
She said the company expects the exits to impact about 600,000 members.
"To reduce benefit disruption, we will use plan exits to prioritize higher performing plans, including those with greater value-based care penetration," Mellet said.
The insurer will work to recapture as much of that lost membership as it can, she added. A similar trend followed the 2025 annual enrollment period, with the company's membership growing substantially in early 2026.
Humana planned market exits in late 2026 that it anticipated would impact about 560,000 members. However, in Q1 of this year, the company revealed that it was on pace for 25% Medicare Advantage membership growth across 2026.
It reiterated that outlook on Wednesday as part of its earnings report.
PUBLISHED: July 29 at 7:24 a.m.
Humana has reaffirmed its expectations that Medicare Advantage membership will grow by 25% this year, the company said Wednesday.
The insurer released its Q2 results Wednesday morning, where it reported total membership of 17.9 million as of June 30. Of that, nearly 7.2 million were enrolled in MA, representing a significant jump year over year, as there were about 5.8 million people in its MA plans as of Q2 2025.
The company first projected this significant enrollment growth in the first quarter following a very successful annual enrollment window for both new sales and member retention. In 2025, Humana planned to shed about 500,000 MA enrollees due to market exits and pricing discipline in response to rising costs.
Despite the membership growth, Humana warned that its 2026 star ratings performance would be a significant headwind over the course of the year.
In addition, Humana posted a 91.1% medical loss ratio (MLR) in the quarter, up slightly year over year from 89.7%. Its consolidated MLR through the first half of the year was 90.2%, compared to 88.4% in the first half of 2025.
The insurer said that its membership growth is a key factor in the MLR uptick, as the new enrollees tend to be higher acuity than those who were retained for multiple years. The star ratings headwinds also impact MLR, per the release.
The company reported $694 million in profit for the quarter, up from s $545 million haul in Q2 2025. Profits through the first half of 2026 were $1.9 billion, on par with the $1.8 billion the company earned in H1 2025.
Revenue was $40.9 billion in the quarter, growing from $32.4 billion in the prior-year quarter. Revenue at the mid-point of 2026 was $80.5 billion, compared to $64.5 billion in the first half of 2025.
The results surpassed Wall Street analysts' expectations for both earnings and revenue, per Zacks Investment Research.
"The first half of the year went well, and we're right where we said we'd be at Investor Day last year," said Humana President and CEO Jim Rechtin. "When we get the clinical care right and run the business more efficiently, everything else follows—stronger earnings and better health and experiences for the people we serve.”
Beyond the company's MA membership growth, it has also continued to expand the number of individuals receiving care through its CenterWell Senior Primary Care unit. It's added 130,900 members so far this year, for growth of 27%.
On the back of the results, Humana reaffirmed its guidance for the year, and expects to earn at least $9 per share.