Health: growing fast, but at what cost?
Health insurance presents a more troubling picture. The segment’s five largest players — UnitedHealth, Elevance Health, Cigna, Humana, and Centene — all grew revenues impressively over the period. But without exception, their expense ratios rose, reflecting the unrelenting pressure of medical cost inflation, wage increases for clinical staff, and the reversal of pandemic-era utilization deferrals.
