Item 1. Business
Medicaid
Medicaid is the largest publicly funded program in the United States and provides health insurance to low-income families and individuals with disabilities. Medicaid is funded jointly by federal and state governments, with the majority of funding provided by the federal government and administered by the states. Each state establishes its own eligibility standards, benefit packages, payment rates and program administration within federal standards. As a result, there are 56 Medicaid programs - one for each U.S. state, each U.S. territory and the District of Columbia. Eligibility is based on a combination of household income and assets, often determined by an income level relative to the federal poverty level. Many states have selected Medicaid managed care as a means of delivering quality healthcare and controlling costs.Medicaid helps meet the needs of various populations through the following products and programs:•The TANF program covers low-income families with children.•Medicaid Expansion covers individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, subject to each state's election.•The ABD program covers low-income individuals with chronic physical disabilities or behavioral health impairments. ABD beneficiaries represent a growing portion of all Medicaid recipients and typically utilize more services as a result of their more complicated health status.•CHIP helps to expand coverage primarily to children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, yet not enough to afford private health insurance. Historically, children have represented the largest Medicaid eligible population. Costs are primarily composed of pediatrics and family care, which tend to be more predictable than those associated with other healthcare issues predominantly affecting the adult population. •LTSS refers to a set of Medicaid-covered services that include Institutional/Residential Care (such as Nursing and Intermediate Care Facilities) and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) for individuals who need assistance with activities of daily living. The largest share of LTSS spending is for older adults and individuals with physical disabilities, followed by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, serious mental illness or other complex needs. Many states are increasingly adopting managed care models (MLTSS) to provide coordinated, person-centered care and expand access to HCBS.•Most children in foster care are categorically eligible for Medicaid under federal law. Federal child welfare legislation requires states to address the health and well-being of children in foster care and provides funding and technical assistance to support these efforts in coordination with Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), youth who age out of foster care at 18 and were in Medicaid at the time, are eligible for Medicaid coverage until age 26.•A portion of Medicaid beneficiaries are dual-eligible, low-income seniors and people with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare. According to CMS, there were approximately 12 million dual-eligible enrollees in 2025. These members may receive assistance from Medicaid for benefits, such as nursing home care, HCBS and/or assistance with Medicare premiums and cost-sharing depending on their income level. Dual-eligibles use more services due to their tendency to have more chronic health conditions. We serve dual-eligibles primarily through our ABD and LTSS programs and through integrated Medicare products such as Medicare Advantage D-SNPs. We operated MMPs, which ended on December 31, 2025, as CMS transitioned to D-SNP-based integration.While Medicaid programs have directed funds to many individuals who cannot afford or otherwise maintain health insurance coverage, they did not initially address the inefficient and costly manner in which the Medicaid population tends to access healthcare. Medicaid recipients in non-managed care programs typically have not sought preventive care or routine treatment for chronic conditions, such as asthma and diabetes. When they do seek care, it is typically fragmented and not coordinated such as seeking healthcare in hospital emergency departments, which is typically more expensive. As a result, many states without managed care programs have found that the costs of providing Medicaid benefits have increased while the medical outcomes for the recipients remained unsatisfactory.Accordingly, in an effort to improve quality of care and the affordability of healthcare, the majority of states have mandated that their TANF recipients enroll in managed care plans and many are considering moving to a mandated managed care approach for additional populations and products. CMS estimates Medicaid spending will grow at an average annual rate of 7% to $1.5 trillion by 2031. Based on continued market growth, we believe a significant market opportunity exists for managed care organizations (MCOs) with operations and programs focused on the distinct socio-economic, cultural and healthcare needs of the uninsured population and the Medicaid populations.We are the largest Medicaid health insurer in the country, serving 12.5 million Medicaid members in 30 states as of December 31, 2025. Our Medicaid contracts with the states of Florida and New York accounted for approximately 10% or more of our consolidated Medicaid premium revenues individually in the year ended December 31, 2025.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed in July 2025, includes requirements that may reduce the number of members eligible for state Medicaid Expansion programs by requiring work or community engagement by members and for state Medicaid agencies to redetermine member eligibility at more frequent intervals, along with adding a "Cost Sharing" or "Co-Pay" for certain medical services. These changes could have the effect of increasing the overall morbidity of the Medicaid Expansion population largely beginning in 2027, subject to state implementation plans. Several other provisions of the OBBBA, such as adjustments to provider taxes and state directed payments beginning in 2028, may have the effect of reducing the amount of federal funding for Medicaid, which could result in changes in the design of Medicaid programs, including coverage of benefits, eligibility, and/or provider payment rates. In particular, New York intends to terminate its Essentials Plan-5, which provided state-subsidized healthcare for individuals from 200% to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) by July 1, 2026. The OBBBA also includes a restriction against paying certain providers designated as "prohibited entities" as of October 1, 2025, which has the potential to create access to care issues and network gaps. The timing of regulatory guidance and other rulemaking changes will be critical to ensuring state and MCO implementation readiness.
Medicare
Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people ages 65 and over, which was expanded to cover people under 65 with certain disabilities and people with end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis or kidney transplant. Medicare consists of four parts, labeled A through D. Part A provides hospitalization benefits financed largely through Social Security taxes and requires beneficiaries to pay out-of-pocket deductibles and coinsurance. Part B provides benefits for medically necessary services and supplies including outpatient care, physician services and home health care. Parts A and B are referred to as Original Medicare. Revenues from CMS are significant to the segment.CMS estimates Medicare spending will grow at an average annual rate of 8% to $1.9 trillion by 2031. Over 40% of Medicare spend in 2024 was in Medicare fee-for-service, representing a notable market opportunity to increase penetration of the Medicare Advantage products.
Medicare Advantage
As an alternative to Original Medicare, beneficiaries may elect to receive their Medicare benefits through Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage. Under Medicare Advantage, MCOs contract with CMS to provide services directly to Medicare beneficiaries as well as through employer and union groups. MCOs typically receive fixed monthly premium per member from CMS that varies based upon the county in which the member resides, demographic factors of the member such as age, gender and institutionalized status and the health status of the member. Any benefits that are not covered by Medicare may result in an additional monthly premium charged to the enrollee or through portions of payments received from CMS that may be allocated to these benefits, according to CMS regulations and guidance. Typically, as our Medicare Advantage members reach their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, our medical costs rise, creating seasonality in the business with a higher percentage of earnings in the first half of the year.As of December 31, 2025, we served 1.0 million Medicare Advantage members across 32 states, primarily under the brand name Wellcare.
Medicare Prescription Drug Plan
Medicare prescription drug coverage, or Medicare Part D, is a voluntary benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is supported by risk sharing with the federal government through risk corridors designed to limit the losses and gains of the participating drug plans by providing a portion of reinsurance for catastrophic drug costs. The government subsidy is based on the national weighted average monthly bid for this coverage, adjusted for risk factor payments. Additional subsidies are provided for dually eligible beneficiaries and specified low-income beneficiaries.MCOs contract with CMS to serve as plan sponsors offering stand-alone Medicare Part D PDPs to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. PDPs offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, and may include a preferred pharmacy network, subject to limitations in certain circumstances. Unless CMS is notified of non-renewal and the non-renewal is effectuated by not filing a bid in June, Medicare Advantage and PDP contracts with CMS are renewed for successive one-year terms each September. Should CMS decide not to renew a contract, CMS must notify MCOs on or before August 1, and the plan would be terminated effective December 31 of that year. Our 2026 PDP bids were below the benchmarks for all 34 CMS regions, compared to our 2025 PDP bids, which resulted in 33 of 34 CMS regions for which we were below the benchmarks and one region for which we were above the benchmark.The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) significantly changed Medicare Part D, impacting stand-alone Medicare PDPs as well as the Part D benefit in many of our Medicare Advantage plans beginning in 2025, most notably by eliminating the coverage gap and capping members' annual out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 in order to provide more predictable and affordable prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. The members' Part D annual out-of-pocket cap for 2026 is $2,100. The IRA changes effective for 2025 resulted in a meaningful shift in cost-sharing responsibilities between members, drug companies, CMS, and PDPs and have resulted in a significant increase in our premiums in consideration for our PDPs' responsibility for a larger portion of total Part D benefit costs. Starting in 2026, CMS created a Drug Subsidy to compensate plans for the loss of the Manufacturer Discount Program (MDP) for maximum fair price drugs. To help mitigate significant premium impacts and address these changes, CMS introduced the Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration program. This program began in calendar year 2025 and was intended by CMS to exist for three years. The parameters of the program are expected to be different each year. For example, in 2025, participating PDPs operated under narrowed risk corridor thresholds as part of the supports CMS introduced to limit market volatility. For 2026, CMS eliminated these narrowed risk corridors entirely, shifting PDPs back toward standard program financial risk‑sharing. We continue to advocate for policies that promote cost-effective, high-quality care for our PDP enrolled members.We began providing PDP coverage in 2006 and have continued to prioritize plans offering low premiums, deductibles and cost sharing. We offer stand-alone PDPs in 50 states and the District of Columbia and served 8.1 million members as of December 31, 2025, making us the country's largest stand-alone PDP provider.
Dual-Eligible Alignment
CMS regulations are promoting greater alignment and integration for dual-eligible members across both programs, whereby full dual beneficiaries would be enrolled under the same company's Medicaid and Medicare plan, improving the quality of care and overall member experience. With over 70% of the approximately 12 million fully-eligible duals population not in integrated care plans, we see significant opportunity to advance care management, improve member engagement and improve the affordability of healthcare through this process. D-SNPs offer various levels of integration of benefits, care coordination (e.g., care management), and processes (e.g., appeals and grievances, claims, materials) depending on the plan type. Fully Integrated Dual Eligible (FIDE) plans provide Medicaid and Medicare benefits, including LTSS and behavioral health through one plan under one legal entity. Highly Integrated Dual Eligible (HIDE) plans can offer Medicaid and Medicare benefits from different plans under different legal entities owned by the same parent organization. These HIDE plans have some differences in the Medicaid benefit offering requirements compared to FIDE plans. Lastly, Coordination-Only Dual Eligible plans can coordinate care with Medicaid fee-for-service or Medicaid MCOs from different parent organizations and in some states can also serve partial dual-eligibles who do not receive full Medicaid benefits. Accordingly, we have been refining our Medicare footprint to overlap more closely with our Medicaid presence to provide D-SNP offerings that support alignment and have one of the highest D-SNP concentrations among our peers.CMS regulations will require beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and in a Medicaid managed care plan to receive integrated care through the Medicaid company's Medicare Advantage D-SNPs beginning in 2030, with certain restrictions beginning in 2027. Integrated D-SNPs are designed to enhance the coordination of care and streamline services while delivering improved outcomes. We believe we are positioned well given our overlapping Medicaid and Medicare Advantage footprints and we will continue to place enterprise-level focus on the D-SNP opportunity to drive long-term growth.
Medicare Advantage
As an alternative to Original Medicare, beneficiaries may elect to receive their Medicare benefits through Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage. Under Medicare Advantage, MCOs contract with CMS to provide services directly to Medicare beneficiaries as well as through employer and union groups. MCOs typically receive fixed monthly premium per member from CMS that varies based upon the county in which the member resides, demographic factors of the member such as age, gender and institutionalized status and the health status of the member. Any benefits that are not covered by Medicare may result in an additional monthly premium charged to the enrollee or through portions of payments received from CMS that may be allocated to these benefits, according to CMS regulations and guidance. Typically, as our Medicare Advantage members reach their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, our medical costs rise, creating seasonality in the business with a higher percentage of earnings in the first half of the year.As of December 31, 2025, we served 1.0 million Medicare Advantage members across 32 states, primarily under the brand name Wellcare.
Medicare Prescription Drug Plan
Medicare prescription drug coverage, or Medicare Part D, is a voluntary benefit for Medicare beneficiaries. The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit is supported by risk sharing with the federal government through risk corridors designed to limit the losses and gains of the participating drug plans by providing a portion of reinsurance for catastrophic drug costs. The government subsidy is based on the national weighted average monthly bid for this coverage, adjusted for risk factor payments. Additional subsidies are provided for dually eligible beneficiaries and specified low-income beneficiaries.MCOs contract with CMS to serve as plan sponsors offering stand-alone Medicare Part D PDPs to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. PDPs offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, and may include a preferred pharmacy network, subject to limitations in certain circumstances. Unless CMS is notified of non-renewal and the non-renewal is effectuated by not filing a bid in June, Medicare Advantage and PDP contracts with CMS are renewed for successive one-year terms each September. Should CMS decide not to renew a contract, CMS must notify MCOs on or before August 1, and the plan would be terminated effective December 31 of that year. Our 2026 PDP bids were below the benchmarks for all 34 CMS regions, compared to our 2025 PDP bids, which resulted in 33 of 34 CMS regions for which we were below the benchmarks and one region for which we were above the benchmark.The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) significantly changed Medicare Part D, impacting stand-alone Medicare PDPs as well as the Part D benefit in many of our Medicare Advantage plans beginning in 2025, most notably by eliminating the coverage gap and capping members' annual out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 in order to provide more predictable and affordable prescription drug coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. The members' Part D annual out-of-pocket cap for 2026 is $2,100. The IRA changes effective for 2025 resulted in a meaningful shift in cost-sharing responsibilities between members, drug companies, CMS, and PDPs and have resulted in a significant increase in our premiums in consideration for our PDPs' responsibility for a larger portion of total Part D benefit costs. Starting in 2026, CMS created a Drug Subsidy to compensate plans for the loss of the Manufacturer Discount Program (MDP) for maximum fair price drugs. To help mitigate significant premium impacts and address these changes, CMS introduced the Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration program. This program began in calendar year 2025 and was intended by CMS to exist for three years. The parameters of the program are expected to be different each year. For example, in 2025, participating PDPs operated under narrowed risk corridor thresholds as part of the supports CMS introduced to limit market volatility. For 2026, CMS eliminated these narrowed risk corridors entirely, shifting PDPs back toward standard program financial risk‑sharing. We continue to advocate for policies that promote cost-effective, high-quality care for our PDP enrolled members.We began providing PDP coverage in 2006 and have continued to prioritize plans offering low premiums, deductibles and cost sharing. We offer stand-alone PDPs in 50 states and the District of Columbia and served 8.1 million members as of December 31, 2025, making us the country's largest stand-alone PDP provider.
Dual-Eligible Alignment
CMS regulations are promoting greater alignment and integration for dual-eligible members across both programs, whereby full dual beneficiaries would be enrolled under the same company's Medicaid and Medicare plan, improving the quality of care and overall member experience. With over 70% of the approximately 12 million fully-eligible duals population not in integrated care plans, we see significant opportunity to advance care management, improve member engagement and improve the affordability of healthcare through this process. D-SNPs offer various levels of integration of benefits, care coordination (e.g., care management), and processes (e.g., appeals and grievances, claims, materials) depending on the plan type. Fully Integrated Dual Eligible (FIDE) plans provide Medicaid and Medicare benefits, including LTSS and behavioral health through one plan under one legal entity. Highly Integrated Dual Eligible (HIDE) plans can offer Medicaid and Medicare benefits from different plans under different legal entities owned by the same parent organization. These HIDE plans have some differences in the Medicaid benefit offering requirements compared to FIDE plans. Lastly, Coordination-Only Dual Eligible plans can coordinate care with Medicaid fee-for-service or Medicaid MCOs from different parent organizations and in some states can also serve partial dual-eligibles who do not receive full Medicaid benefits. Accordingly, we have been refining our Medicare footprint to overlap more closely with our Medicaid presence to provide D-SNP offerings that support alignment and have one of the highest D-SNP concentrations among our peers.CMS regulations will require beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and in a Medicaid managed care plan to receive integrated care through the Medicaid company's Medicare Advantage D-SNPs beginning in 2030, with certain restrictions beginning in 2027. Integrated D-SNPs are designed to enhance the coordination of care and streamline services while delivering improved outcomes. We believe we are positioned well given our overlapping Medicaid and Medicare Advantage footprints and we will continue to place enterprise-level focus on the D-SNP opportunity to drive long-term growth.
Commercial
We offer commercial health insurance products to individuals through the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace, and through large and small employer groups in limited areas. These plans offer differing benefit designs and varying levels of co-payments at different premium rates. These plans facilitate access to healthcare services for our members through network contracts with physicians, hospitals and other providers. Coverage typically is subject to copays and can also be subject to deductibles and coinsurance. As our commercial members reach their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, our medical costs rise, creating seasonality in the business with a higher percentage of earnings in the first half of the year.The ACA created the Health Insurance Marketplace, which is a key component of the ACA and provides an opportunity for individuals and families to obtain health insurance. States have the option of operating their own Marketplace or partnering with the federal government. States choosing neither option default to the federally-facilitated Marketplace. Insurers are required to offer a minimum level of benefits with coverage that varies based on premiums and out-of-pocket costs.Premium subsidies are provided to individuals and families without access to other coverage and with incomes above 100% of the federal poverty level to make coverage more affordable. Consumers who qualify for subsidies may choose how much of the tax credit to apply to their premiums each month, up to the maximum amount for which they are eligible. The amount of subsidy an enrollee may receive depends on household income and the cost of the second lowest cost silver plan available to enrollees in their local area. Temporary enhanced subsidies were made available by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which were further extended through 2025 pursuant to the IRA. The enhanced eligibility extended by the IRA expired at the end of 2025. While enhanced eligibility has expired, APTCs are still in force and provide meaningful subsidies to eligible members.We are the largest Marketplace carrier, serving 5.5 million members across 29 states as of December 31, 2025, under the brand name Ambetter Health. Revenues from CMS are significant to the segment.The Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Final Rule (Final Rule) was published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2025. The Final Rule makes changes to policies to strengthen program integrity measures in the Marketplace. For example, the Special Enrollment Period for those under 150% of the FPL has been repealed beginning August 25, 2025. Several of the provisions of the Final Rule have been stayed due to ongoing litigation. These include a requirement for certain consumers who automatically re-enroll into a fully subsidized Marketplace plan to be re-enrolled into the same plan with a $5 premium until the consumer updates their exchange application to confirm APTC eligibility. Additionally, exchanges may no longer accept a consumer's self-attestation of projected annual household income when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cannot verify it due to lack of tax return data; rather, exchanges must verify household income using other trusted data sources.In addition, the OBBBA placed additional restrictions on APTC requirements. For example, beginning January 1, 2026, should individuals mis-estimate their projected income, the OBBBA requires them to reimburse the IRS for the full amount of excess tax credit received. In addition, as of January 1, 2026, the OBBBA prohibits individuals from receiving APTCs if they enroll in health coverage through a Special Enrollment Period associated with their income. We anticipate that the combined effect of the expiration of the Enhanced APTCs, the Final Rule, and the OBBBA will reduce 2026 Marketplace membership and continue to increase the overall morbidity of the Marketplace population. During the third quarter of 2025, we reacted to an evolving regulatory and market environment and took corrective pricing actions for 2026 in states covering 95% of Marketplace membership. We continue to advocate for legislation and regulations aimed at leveraging Medicaid and the Health Insurance Marketplace to maintain health insurance coverage and affordability for consumers.
Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA)
We see an opportunity for market disruption of employer-sponsored insurance through ICHRAs. An ICHRA allows employers of all sizes to directly reimburse employees for individual health insurance premiums and qualifying medical expenses tax free in lieu of traditional employer-sponsored health insurance. The ICHRA model relies heavily on off-exchange, individual health insurance coverage as the most efficient way to use the funds. These off-exchange plans often mimic employer-provided coverage in benefit design. They are designed to provide comprehensive, consistent coverage and benefits that meet members' needs.Using an ICHRA allows employees to tap into a competitive marketplace and a risk pool larger than the employer's risk pool creating the opportunity for lower, more consistent premiums each year. At the same time, this approach allows employees to find products that better fit their needs. Given the full commercial group market covers over 170 million Americans, we see a significant addressable market over the long term. Ambetter Health Solutions, our off-exchange marketplace business offerings, delivers individual health insurance plans that are compatible with ICHRAs. Ambetter Health Solutions supports employers who choose to adopt this reimbursement model by providing employees with access to affordable, customizable and dependable coverage options. We operated plans designed to attract ICHRA membership in off-exchange plans in 6 states in 2025, and expanded coverage to 13 states in 2026.
Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA)
We see an opportunity for market disruption of employer-sponsored insurance through ICHRAs. An ICHRA allows employers of all sizes to directly reimburse employees for individual health insurance premiums and qualifying medical expenses tax free in lieu of traditional employer-sponsored health insurance. The ICHRA model relies heavily on off-exchange, individual health insurance coverage as the most efficient way to use the funds. These off-exchange plans often mimic employer-provided coverage in benefit design. They are designed to provide comprehensive, consistent coverage and benefits that meet members' needs.Using an ICHRA allows employees to tap into a competitive marketplace and a risk pool larger than the employer's risk pool creating the opportunity for lower, more consistent premiums each year. At the same time, this approach allows employees to find products that better fit their needs. Given the full commercial group market covers over 170 million Americans, we see a significant addressable market over the long term. Ambetter Health Solutions, our off-exchange marketplace business offerings, delivers individual health insurance plans that are compatible with ICHRAs. Ambetter Health Solutions supports employers who choose to adopt this reimbursement model by providing employees with access to affordable, customizable and dependable coverage options. We operated plans designed to attract ICHRA membership in off-exchange plans in 6 states in 2025, and expanded coverage to 13 states in 2026.
Other
Our Other segment includes:•Specialty Pharmacy. AcariaHealth provides specialty pharmacy services for patients with complex and chronic conditions. Leveraging national scale and personalized clinical support, AcariaHealth collaborates with providers and payers to improve access and optimize patient outcomes. AcariaHealth also administers free drug programs for pharmaceutical manufacturers and operates a full-service wholesale distribution pharmacy.•Behavioral Health. Magellan Health, Inc. (Magellan Health) supports innovative ways of accessing better health through technology, while remaining focused on the critical personal relationships that are necessary to achieve a healthy, vibrant life. Magellan's customers include health plans and other MCOs, employers, labor unions, various military and state and federal governmental agencies, and third-party administrators. We signed a definitive agreement to divest the remaining Magellan Health businesses in December 2025.•Vision and Dental Services. Our fully integrated vision and dental health programs include benefits beyond traditional medical benefits. Our vision benefit program administers routine and surgical eye care benefits through a contracted national network of eye care providers. Through the dental benefit, we are dedicated to improving oral health through a contracted network of dental healthcare providers.•Clinical Healthcare. Community Medical Group (CMG) provides clinical healthcare, encompassing primary care, access to certain specialty services and a suite of social and other support services. CMG operates in Florida through an at-risk primary care provider model, focusing on clinical and social care for at-risk beneficiaries. Additionally, Denova Collaborative Health provides outpatient primary care and behavioral healthcare services.•Centralized Services. Each of our health plans contracts with our corporate management companies to provide certain functions required to manage the health plan which often include salaries and wages for personnel, rent, utilities, population health management, provider contracting, compliance, member services, claims processing, pharmacy oversight services, information technology, cash management, finance and accounting and other services.
Benefits to Customers
We feel that our ability to establish and maintain a leadership position in the markets we serve results primarily from our demonstrated success in providing quality care while improving the affordability of healthcare, and from our specialized programs with state governments.The following are among the benefits we provide to our government partners, providers and members:•Accurate and timely claims payments. We are committed to ensuring that our information systems and claims payment systems meet or exceed state requirements. We continuously improve our claims processing strategies, expertise, configuration and tools to achieve operational excellence, including timely payments to our providers.•Care management for complex populations. Through our experience with Medicaid populations and long-time presence in states with experience in long-term care for children and adolescents in the foster care system, we have developed care management, service coordination and crisis prevention/response programs that improve healthcare outcomes through decreasing preventable emergency department utilization and improving access to primary care and behavioral health intervention.•Commitment to quality and improved health outcomes. We demonstrate this through obtaining health plan accreditations, such as National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which assesses the effectiveness of our structure and operational processes, clinical quality and member satisfaction. We have developed care coordination, case management and clinical programs focused on key prevention and chronic conditions. Additionally, we have launched a multi-year plan to improve quality across the enterprise with a strong focus on enhanced patient experience and access to care, which lays the foundation for strong quality ratings in the future, including Medicare Star ratings, Medicaid Health Plan Rating (HPR) and Marketplace Quality Rating System (QRS).•Community-specific healthcare programs and a focus on addressing healthcare gaps. Our expertise in government-sponsored programs has helped us establish and maintain strong relationships with community-based organizations and local providers, as well as our state and federal partners. Our health plans develop tailored, local programs and campaigns to support members through solutions that promote whole-person care and enhance healthcare for all.•Data-driven approach to improve health outcomes. We have employed an investment strategy designed to increase our capability to collect and analyze data and insights. We gather data from multiple sources including medical, vision and behavioral health claims and encounter data, pharmacy data, dental vendor claims and authorization data. We use this data to track utilization trends, identify health disparities, monitor quality of care and evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. Through these analyses, we identify and implement interventions that improve health outcomes, advance health equity and ensure members receive timely, appropriate services. The value and accuracy in the data we collect is important in demonstrating an auditable program for federal and state agencies.•Member programs and services. Our comprehensive set of programs and services help members achieve whole-person health while supporting the overall goals of the government program. Covered healthcare benefits vary from customer to customer but cover a wide range of services, including transportation assistance, provision of durable medical equipment, behavioral health and substance use disorder services, 24-hour nurse advice line, social work services and telehealth services.•Value-based arrangements. Our health plans offer a combination of value-based contracting models, including quality incentives and risk arrangements, that address the continuum of whole-person care. We believe value-based collaboration with providers leads to improved health outcomes, reduced costs and better member and provider experiences.
Providers
For each of our service areas, we establish a provider network consisting of primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, behavioral health practitioners and ancillary providers. Our network of primary care physicians is a critical component of care delivery, healthcare affordability, and the attraction and retention of new members. Primary care physicians include family and general practitioners, pediatricians and internal medicine physicians. Specialty care physicians provide medical care to members generally upon referral by primary care physicians. Specialty care physicians include a wide array of provider types including, but not limited to, orthopedic surgeons, cardiologists and otolaryngologists. We also build robust networks of mental health providers, such as psychiatrists, social workers, substance abuse disorder facilities, and inpatient behavioral health facilities. We also contract with providers on a negotiated fee arrangement for physical therapy, home healthcare, diagnostic laboratory tests, x-ray examinations, ambulance services and durable medical equipment.Our health plans facilitate access to healthcare services for our members primarily through contracts with our providers. Our contracts with primary and specialty care physicians and hospitals are usually for a term of one to three years and usually renew automatically for successive one-year terms, but generally are subject to termination by either party upon prior written notice. In the absence of a contract, we typically pay providers at applicable state or federal reimbursement levels and guidelines, depending on the product (for example, Medicaid or Medicare). We pay providers under a variety of methods, including fee-for-service, capitation arrangements and value-based arrangements.•Under our fee-for-service contracts with providers, we pay a negotiated fee for covered services, which may include a case rate or fee-for service. This model is characterized as having no financial risk for the provider. •Under our capitated contracts, providers can be paid a set amount for their services as outlined in their respective provider agreements, usually on a per member per month basis and sometimes including different rates depending on the age of the population.•Under value-based arrangements, providers can be paid under either a capitated or fee-for-service model. The arrangement, however, contains provisions for additional payments to the providers or reimbursement from the providers based on their performance against quality and other measures. We are committed to value-based contracting, upside and downside risk, assigning members to the highest quality providers and capitation. This is done in partnership with our providers to increase quality outcomes and overall member satisfaction. We anticipate our membership in upside and downside risk arrangements will continue to grow.The continuum of value-based contracting includes the following models: pay-for-performance, shared savings, shared risk and full risk. We often start our provider relationships in a pay-for-performance model, in which providers are reimbursed for the fair market value of services provided. Providers benefit from this model as it gives complete transparency and clarity on actions that earn incentives. We then transition to a risk-sharing model, in which providers are reimbursed based on the total cost of care. As we advance along this continuum, it strengthens our partnerships with our providers, enabling the delivery of high-quality care. We believe having the strongest provider partners who know how to operate well in a value-based model and who can help us drive positive outcomes for our members and good member experience is more important than owning providers, which occurs on an exception basis. Prioritizing partnership over ownership allows us to be agile and capital-efficient, focusing our resources on what we do best.We work with physicians to help them operate efficiently by providing actionable financial and utilization information, physician and patient educational programs and disease and population health management programs. Our programs are also designed to help physicians coordinate care rendered by other providers.We believe our local and collaborative approach with physicians and other providers gives us a competitive advantage in entering new markets. Our contracted physicians serve on local committees that assist us in implementing preventive care programs, optimizing costs and improving the overall quality of care delivered to our members, while also simplifying the administrative burdens on our providers. This approach has enabled us to strengthen our provider networks through improved physician recruitment and retention which, in turn, has helped to increase our membership base.The following are among the services we provide to support physicians:•Provider Engagement Performance Tools and Processes can lead to measurable improvements in quality and health outcomes, healthcare costs and member satisfaction. High-quality provider support and service levels are important as our key customers are increasingly using performance-based measures to select and pay health plans. We have a suite of network performance tools for use by physicians and other providers which monitor the outcomes and care gaps of their individual patient panels. Provider Engagement and Quality teams meet with the providers to review their performance issues and recommend strategies for improvements in their patient panel outcome, including disease management and quality initiatives. Our tools also allow the physician and others to see where they stand within their value-based contract.•Our Integrated Care Model is member-centric and managed by one care manager assigned to a member who looks at the care for the member in a holistic manner. This single care manager will coordinate all care for that member including behavioral health, medical health and home-based primary care in accordance with an individualized, integrated care plan. This care manager also coordinates meetings with the member's integrated care team to assess and alter the care plan as needed. This results in better clinical outcomes and improved member satisfaction.•The Provider Portal delivers claims and eligibility information, prior authorization submissions and status, member panels, care gaps, patient analytics and provider analytics to contracted providers to drive provider engagement and improve patient outcomes. Data and reporting are delivered via our secure, user-friendly web-based provider portal or a third-party, payor-agnostic portal which supports a more streamlined workflow for providers.Our contracted physicians also benefit from several of the services offered to our members and population health management programs, which assist physicians in managing their patients with chronic diseases.
Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is foundational for our organization. Our commitment to achieving better health outcomes for our members has led to expanded focus and investment on key initiatives involving people, processes, technology and partnership management.Through these initiatives, we have:•continued to standardize core quality processes and programs, including those focused on member engagement and care gap closure, encouraging members' active participation with primary care physicians and their care team;•expanded the use of advanced analytics and enhanced our real-time operational dashboards to strategically track numerous quality performance and benchmarks;•enhanced data availability to improve our ability to identify and analyze member care gaps, enabling more informed decision-making and personalized interventions to improve member satisfaction;•advanced local relationships with providers to improve access and quality of care for our members as this will drive greater quality care outcomes.In connection with these initiatives, we have utilized artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and predictive modeling in ways that lower costs, advance access to value-based care and increase operational efficiencies for each of our employees, members, vendors and provider partners. We have developed policies and a governance structure to review appropriate use and evaluate model output to consistently keep "Humans in the Loop". We serve a diverse and largely vulnerable member population, and our data science team collaborates closely in the development of the use of AI technology to ensure that the risks of harmful bias are appropriately mitigated. Importantly, we do not use AI to deny requests for prior authorization. Our clinicians are at the forefront of member-facing model development and evaluation, and we employ a layered approach to keep "Humans in the Loop" through model training, monitoring, and active human engagement in decision-making.We believe these initiatives will improve members' overall health and healthcare experience and help us achieve stronger quality scores overall, such as Medicare Star ratings, Medicaid HPR and Marketplace QRS.CMS developed the Medicare Advantage Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers choose among competing plans, awarding between 1.0 and 5.0 Stars to Medicare Advantage plans based on performance on composite measures of quality. The parent organization's Star rating is used for new Medicare Advantage contracts while existing contracts follow their individual Star ratings to determine bonus payments.Plans receive additional Medicare revenue related to the achievement of higher Star ratings that can be used to offer more attractive benefit packages to members and/or achieve higher profit margins. In addition, plans with Star ratings of 5.0 are eligible for year-round open enrollment, whereas plans with lower Star ratings have more restrictions on enrollment criteria and timing. Part C or Part D Medicare plans with Star ratings of fewer than three stars for three consecutive years are denoted as "low performing" plans on the CMS website and in the CMS "Medicare and You" handbook. In addition, CMS has the authority to terminate the Medicare Advantage and PDP contracts for plans rated below three Stars for three consecutive years for any Part (C or D). As a result, plans that achieve higher Star ratings may have a competitive advantage over plans with lower Star ratings.As further validation of our quality objectives, we pursue accreditation by independent organizations that have been established to promote healthcare quality. NCQA Health Plan programs provide unbiased, third-party reviews to verify and publicly report results on specific quality metrics including Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS). We pursue and achieve accreditation in the majority of states where we currently have health plan operations. We also verify the credentials and backgrounds of our partner providers using standards supported by NCQA to ensure the quality of our networks.Accreditation is another way to demonstrate our ability to provide access to quality care for our members as well as supporting state specific requirements. The majority of state Medicaid programs also have specific quality measures that drive our clinical quality improvement efforts. Performance is monitored by health plan quality improvement committees and our corporate population health management and quality improvement teams.We remain committed to our quality initiatives and continue to focus on investments that we expect to translate into value over the next few years.
State and Federal Businesses; Contracts
In addition to being a licensed insurance company or HMO, in order to be a Medicaid MCO in each of the states in which we operate, we generally must operate under a contract with the state's Medicaid agency. States generally either use a formal request for proposal process, reviewing a number of bidders, or award individual contracts to qualified applicants that apply for entry to the program. Under these state Medicaid program contracts, we receive monthly payments based on specified capitation rates determined on an actuarial basis. These rates differ by membership category and by state depending on the specific benefits and policies adopted by each state. In addition, several of our Medicaid contracts require us to maintain Medicare Advantage D-SNPs, which are regulated by CMS and the state Medicaid agency, for dual-eligible individuals within the state.We provide Medicare Advantage, PDPs, D-SNPs and MMPs pursuant to contracts with CMS and subject to federal regulation regarding the award, administration and performance of such contracts. CMS also has the right to audit our performance to determine our compliance with these contracts, other CMS regulations, and the quality of care we provide to Medicare beneficiaries under these contracts.As of December 31, 2025, we operated in 29 states under federally-facilitated Marketplace contracts with CMS and state-based exchanges. We also operate under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Medical Services and the Arkansas Insurance Department to participate in the Medicaid expansion model that Arkansas has adopted (referred to as AR Health and Opportunity for Me program).Our state and federal contracts and the legal and regulatory provisions applicable to us generally set forth requirements for operating, including provisions relating to:•eligibility, enrollment and dis-enrollment processes;•covered services;•eligible providers;•subcontractors;•record-keeping and record retention;•periodic financial and informational reporting;•quality assurance;•accreditation;•health education and wellness and prevention programs;•timeliness of claims payment;•financial standards;•safeguarding of member information;•fraud, waste and abuse detection and reporting;•grievance procedures; •use and compensation of brokers; and•organization and administrative systems.A health plan or individual health insurance provider's compliance with these requirements is subject to significant monitoring by state regulators and by CMS, including monthly, quarterly and annual reporting, all of which are generally state-specific. A health plan is also subject to periodic comprehensive quality assurance evaluations by a third-party reviewing organization and generally by the insurance department of the jurisdiction that licenses the health plan. A health plan or individual health insurance provider must also submit reports to various regulatory agencies, including quarterly and annual statutory financial statements and utilization reports.Our health plans operate through individual state contracts, generally with an initial term of one to five years. The contracts often have renewal or extension terms or are renewable through the state's reprocurement process. The contracts generally are subject to termination for cause, an event of default or lack of funding, among other things.Our federally-facilitated Marketplace contracts and state-based exchanges are renewable on an annual basis.
Other Fraud, Waste and Abuse Laws
Investigating and prosecuting healthcare fraud, waste and abuse continues to be a top priority for state and federal law enforcement agencies. These efforts span multiple products, including Medicare, Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace and commercial plans. Pertinent fraud, waste and abuse laws include the federal False Claims Act, which prohibits the known filing of a false claim or the known use of false statements to obtain payment from the federal government. Many states have their own statutes that closely resemble the federal False Claims Act. A plan or provider may engage in other activities that violate fraud, waste and abuse laws, such as paying or receiving kickbacks or other inducements for the referral of members or coverage of products (such as prescription drugs), billing for unnecessary medical services or making false or misleading sales-related representations.Our program integrity efforts aim to detect, prevent and correct fraud, waste and abuse. In addition to investigating leads from members, providers and our own team members, we use data analytics to identify suspicious activity and, as appropriate, will deny improperly billed claims, recover improperly made payments and make referrals to regulatory entities and law enforcement for further review. The laws and regulations relating to fraud, waste and abuse and the requirements applicable to health plans, PDPs and providers participating in these programs are complex and change regularly. Compliance with these laws may require substantial resources. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our fraud, waste and abuse detection methods through new technology and enhanced analytics. While we have both prospective and retrospective processes to identify abusive patterns and fraudulent billing, our anti-fraud strategy continues to focus on increasing our capabilities to proactively detect inappropriate billing prior to payment.
Privacy Regulations
We are subject to various federal, state and local laws and rules regarding the use, security and disclosure of protected health information, personal information and other categories of confidential or legally protected data that our businesses handle. Such laws and rules include, without limitation, HIPAA, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) and state privacy and security laws such as the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act and the California Online Privacy Protection Act. Privacy and security laws and regulations often change due to new or amended legislation, regulations or administrative interpretation. A variety of state and federal regulators enforce these laws, including but not limited to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and other state regulators.HIPAA is designed to improve the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage, simplify the administration of health insurance through standard transactions and ensure the privacy and security of individual health information. Among the requirements of HIPAA are the Administrative Simplification provisions which include: standards for processing health insurance claims and related transactions (Transactions Standards); requirements for protecting the privacy and limiting the use and disclosure of medical records and other personal health information (Privacy Rule); and standards and specifications for safeguarding personal health information which is maintained, stored or transmitted in electronic format (Security Rule). The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act amended certain provisions of HIPAA and enhanced data security obligations for covered entities and their business associates. HITECH also mandated individual notifications in instances of a data breach, provided enhanced penalties for HIPAA violations and granted enforcement authority to states' Attorneys General in addition to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. The HIPAA Omnibus Rule further enhanced the changes under the HITECH Acts and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 which clarified that genetic information is protected under HIPAA and prohibits most health plans from using or disclosing genetic information for underwriting purposes. These regulations also establish significant criminal penalties and civil sanctions for non-compliance. The preemption provisions of HIPAA provide that the federal standards will not preempt state laws that are more stringent than the related federal requirements. The Privacy and Security Rules and HITECH/Omnibus enhancements established requirements to protect the privacy of medical records and safeguard personal health information maintained and used by healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and their business associates. The Security Rule requires healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and their business associates to implement administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of health information electronically stored, maintained or transmitted. The HITECH Act and Omnibus Rule enhanced a federal requirement for notification when the security of protected health information is breached. In addition, there are state laws that have been adopted to provide for, among other things, private rights of action for breaches of data security and mandatory notification to persons whose identifiable information is obtained without authorization.The requirements of the Transactions Standards apply to certain healthcare-related transactions conducted using "electronic media." Since "electronic media" is defined broadly to include "transmissions that are physically moved from one location to another using portable data, magnetic tape, disk or compact disk media," many communications are considered to be electronically transmitted. Under HIPAA, health plans and providers are required to have the capacity to accept and send all covered transactions in a standardized electronic format. Penalties can be imposed for failure to comply with these requirements. The Transactions Standards were modified in October 2015 with the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system.In addition, we process and maintain personal card data, particularly in connection with our Marketplace business. As a result, we must maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is a multifaceted security standard intended to optimize the security of credit, debit and cash card transactions and protect cardholders against misuse of their personal information.
Compensation and Other Benefits
We have a pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and are committed to fair and competitive compensation practices designed to retain and attract top talent. We align our team members' compensation with their skills, experiences, contributions and performance. We offer benefits to our team members to help them achieve optimum work-life balance and meet their needs as well as the needs of their families. In addition to traditional healthcare benefits, we also offer various wellness programs, an employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement/educational assistance, a 401(k) retirement plan, an employee stock purchase plan, as well as programs for family support such as adoption assistance, back-up dependent care, parental leave and caregiver leave. Our parental leave offers six weeks of fully compensated time for caregivers with an additional eight weeks for mothers, providing up to 14 weeks of fully compensated maternity leave. In addition, we offer paid community volunteer time to encourage our team members to participate in volunteer programs and support local communities.
Talent Acquisition and Development
Through our robust talent infrastructure, we continue working to deepen and prepare our talent bench and workforce, which is instrumental to executing our long-term business strategy. Our talent advisors and hiring leaders recruit from across the country to develop a workforce possessing outstanding capabilities and a wide range of perspectives and lived experiences. We are committed to developing a skill-rich workforce who can thrive in the evolving world of work, enabling our organization to further accelerate growth, inclusivity and innovation. Through Centene University, accessible to our team members, we have designed learning and development at scale, using new digital tools, real-time virtual learnings and customized leadership development programs in a modern learning environment. In addition to building new workforce skills, we utilize our ongoing enterprise talent reviews, succession planning, career development planning and comprehensive workforce analytics to provide insights to senior leaders to inform actions and drive intentional talent results. We have a dynamic approach to performance reviews, discussing performance at key milestones throughout the year to support our team members' continuous career growth and talent development. Additionally, our employee engagement tool allows team members to provide candid feedback to the organization throughout the year, enabling leaders to measure, monitor, and improve employee engagement and workforce culture.
Modernized and Connected Workforce
We have adopted a modern work environment with the majority of our team members leveraging remote and hybrid work arrangements, allowing them to do their best work in the way they work best. We are intentional in our efforts to foster a collaborative and engaging work environment, including forums for people leaders, robust weekly communications for all team members, and virtual all-employee meetings. Additionally, we have a wide range of Centene Professional Networks. Open to all employees, these voluntary, employee-led groups provide professional connections and leadership opportunities for all team members and drive impact by supporting the attraction, development and retention of the best talent at all levels.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting and information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act) and, as a result, we file periodic reports and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We make these filings available on our website free of charge, the URL of which is https://www.centene.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains a website (https://www.sec.gov) that contains our annual, quarterly and current reports and other information we file electronically with the SEC. Stockholders may obtain a copy of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, without charge, by writing: Investor Relations, Centene Corporation, 7700 Forsyth Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63105. Please note: Information on our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.