Humana, UnitedHealth Soar as US Raises Medicare Advantage Rates

A pharmacy tech pulls medication from a shelf inside a pharmacy in Provo, Utah.

Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

UnitedHealth Group Inc., Humana Inc. and other insurers that provide private Medicare Advantage plans for older Americans rose after the US agreed to boost 2027 payments by 2.48%, more than its initial proposal and a respite for an industry squeezed by federal cost-cutting efforts.

Industry leader UnitedHealth’s stock jumped as much as 10%, the most intraday since August. Humana advanced as much as 11%, while CVS Health Corp. gained as much as 6.9%.