WBL’s corporate partners are some of health care’s most valuable players — and they’re fantastic resources for industry news, trend reports, and thought leadership. Check out what’s top of mind for our partners below.

Elevance Health: Medicare Advantage Growth Is Associated with Lower Total Medicare Spending

Over the last decade, total Medicare program spending growth has slowed greatly relative to what had been predicted by government agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary (OACT), prompting questions about what might have contributed to this trend. While there are undoubtedly many factors that contributed to this “bending of the cost curve,” the analysis presented in this paper explores whether, and to what extent, slower overall Medicare spending growth was associated with the rise in MA enrollment during this same period.

The analysis uses publicly available data from CMS to examine the relationship between MA penetration (i.e., percent of eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an MA plan) and total Medicare spending, both across U.S. counties and year-over-year within counties. Linear regression models were used to estimate this association. The findings suggest that increased MA penetration is associated with lower, or decreased growth in, total Medicare spending. Increased enrollment in MA plans from 2012-2021 was estimated to generate as much as $144 billion of savings in total Medicare spending and may have played a crucial role in the Medicare spending slowdown.

UnitedHealth Group: 2024 AHR Health of Women and Children Report

The United Health Foundation is proud to share the 2024 AHR Health Women and Children Report which highlights the critical role of social drivers in shaping community well-being. The report found that women faced worsening challenges in several measures of mental, behavioral, and physical health outcomes, including depression, drug deaths, and obesity.

For the first time, the Health of Women and Children Report examined health disparities among women by disability status, sexual orientation, and veteran status. The report also highlights several improvements in children’s health, such as the teen suicide rate and overweight or obesity prevalence among youth.