Managed Care 2026 Star plan cut points look ‘challenged,’ says Leerink

Leerink analyst Whit Mayo notes that CMS has released the cut points for Stars for plan year 2026 and payment year 2027 and that the industry received ratings last night in the HPMS system, which is how UnitedHealth (UNH) knew the percentage of members in 4-plus Star plans as it indicated ahead of a conference presentation, adding that it is “possible that if UNH did better, someone could have done worse.” Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) also gave a “very positive update” at an investor conference that it expects to retain 100% of members in 4-plus rated plans, the analyst noted. It appears that 58% of the cut points got harder, 17% easier, and 25% stayed the same, adds the analyst, who says the 2026 Star plan cut points look “challenged.” Other publicly traded companies in the health insurance space include CVS Health (CVS), Centene (CNC), Cigna (CI), Elevance Health (ELV), Humana (HUM) and Molina Healthcare (MOH).