By Tara BannowJuly 15, 2026
Hospitals and Insurance Reporter
Tara covers the business of health care. Her stories focus on hospitals, doctors, and how their business practices affect patients — especially when private equity gets involved. She also writes about health insurance and ideas for improving our broken health system. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70.The country’s second-biggest health insurer said Wednesday it plans to further shrink its Medicaid portfolio in the coming year, just as states roll out requirements for the program that covers low-income Americans.
Elevance Health made the announcement on its second-quarter earnings call, in which the company raised its profit outlook and surpassed analysts’ expectations for both profit and revenue. The company posted about $50 billion in revenue in the quarter, which ended June 30, and $1.5 billion in profit to shareholders, down 16% year over year.
The details were slim, despite several analysts’ prodding on the call: only that the company will exit Medicaid markets it deems unsustainable over the next 12 to 18 months, much like it just did in Washington, D.C.
