The year started off hot with a series of nonprofit affiliations. Larger players — like Centene and Humana — pursued transactions as 2026 progressed.
From leaning into new businesses to shedding troubled ones, here is where payer activity stands halfway through 2026:
1. Renton, Wash.-based Providence will exit most lines of its health insurance business, Providence Health Plan, starting in 2027. The health system plans to maintain its Medicare Advantage business through an agreement with a national carrier, according to a May 20 news release.
2. CVS Health confirmed court approval to sell its long-term care pharmacy business, Omnicare, to GenieRx, an investment firm partnership. The transaction’s closing cash consideration is $250 million.
3. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is leveraging HealthEZ, a third-party administrator it purchased last year, to join the TPA market. Solutions will be available effective Jan. 1, 2027.
4. The Cigna Group is floating “strategic alternatives” for utilization management subsidiary EviCore, under Evernorth.
5. UnitedHealth Group is planning to acquire health benefits administration platform Alegeus Technologies, according to an earnings call.
6. UnitedHealth also completed its sale of Optum UK to TPG. The United Kingdom subsidiary’s primary asset was EMIS Group, a software company used by the country’s NHS.
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