Humana Inc. led medical insurers higher in trading yesterday after the U.S. government reversed a decision to cut a key Medicare payment rate, offering them an increase instead.
Humana rose 5.5% to close at $79.11 in New York, and UnitedHealth Group Inc. gained 4.7% to $61.74, after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went public yesterday with the decision to do away with a planned rate reduction. Instead, insurers will receive a 3.3% increase in the rate that determines the payments they get for running the government’s Medicare Advantage plans.
