Trending News Today: Humana Will Not Return to Individual Insurance Marketplace

Cognitive training, blood pressure management, and increased physical activity may help prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia, a new report suggests. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reviewed the randomized clinical trial ACTIVE, which included 2832 individuals. The study showed that after 10 years, participants who received cognitive training in reasoning and speed-of-processing had less of a decline in those areas than those who did not, according to USA Today. The committee noted that although the evidence is encouraging, there is not enough to embark on a public health campaign; however, cognitive training is an area worth considering.

Humana stated that it will not return to the individual insurance marketplace after exiting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges this year, according to CNBC. “This is just not a business that we will be good at,” Bruce Broussard, Humana CEO, said in an interview. “No matter what they do in Washington, we are not going to go back in. And we’ve had a lot of people ask us from Washington DC if we would go back in and we’ve said no, it’s not there.” In February, Humana announced that it was leaving the individual market, a space that contained more than 100,000 of its customers.

Following the release of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), health care stocks increased. According to Reuters, the S&P health care index rose 1% on Thursday, marking its fifth consecutive record close after the release of the AHCA, which aims at curbing Medicaid funding and reshaping subsidies to low-income individuals for private insurance. In 5 days, the index has risen 3.9%, Reuters reported. The Nasdaq biotechnology index increased by 1.3%—–a 9.4% total jump so far this week. “The initial proposal I think is more generous and more positive to the industry than expected,” Jeff Jonas, portfolio manager with Gabelli Funds, told Reuters.