Upward Growth Substack
Subscribe
Sign in
Home
Advisory
Archive
About
Latest
Top
Discussions
Five Health Plan Postures to Understand During the 2026 ACA Shakeout
Aetna and Cigna walked. Subsidies expired. Every plan staying in is making a different bet on what the market becomes.
May 19
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
2
Q1 2026 Payor Earnings Just Decided What CY 2027 Will Look Like
Five publicly traded payors just signaled how they will price, build, and rationalize for the next cycle. Here's what it means before bid filings lock…
May 12
•
Ryan Peterson
2
2
An Actuary Is About to Run Cigna. The Pattern of Moves Already Tells You What He Thinks.
Three divestitures in eighteen months and what comes next.
May 5
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
2
April 2026
You're Not Imagining the Health Plan Deal Slowdown
The buying sequence at health plans inverted in the last 18 months. Financial scrutiny that used to happen only at the end now happens at the start as…
Apr 28
•
Ryan Peterson
1
1
Every Health Plan Just Published Its Prior Auth Report Card. Here's the Pattern Underneath the Numbers.
The first permanent record of how plans handle prior auth. What the numbers reveal about your payer accounts.
Apr 21
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
The CY 2027 Rate Announcement Changed Your Buyer's Mood. Here's What That Actually Means for Your Pipeline.
CMS reversed the January rate scare with a $13 billion increase for MA plans. But relief and loose budgets aren't the same thing, and the risk model…
Apr 14
•
Ryan Peterson
8
2
The CY 2027 Final Rule Is Out. What Changed, What's New, and Why It Matters If You Sell to Health Plans.
CMS finalized the biggest Stars overhaul in a decade, rolled back four health equity requirements, and added supplemental benefit rules that weren't…
Apr 7
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
March 2026
Your Deal Was Moving. Then You Asked Your Health Plan Buyer for Data.
You need plan data to prove ROI. But asking for it before the case is made is the fastest way to lose a deal you were winning.
Mar 31
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
Blues Plans Are Consolidating From Within. Your Pipeline May Not Reflect It Yet.
What's driving the wave of Blues affiliations, what the CMS data actually shows, and what changes about how you sell to a Blue that's now part of…
Mar 24
•
Ryan Peterson
3
3
1
Your Health Plan Buyer Is Cutting Providers. Here's What That Changes About Your Deal.
Health plans are tightening their provider networks across MA, Medicaid, and commercial. Here's what's driving it, what it's doing to your sales cycle…
Mar 17
•
Ryan Peterson
4
2
Every Health Tech Vendor Needs a Point of View on Outcome-Based Pricing
Health plan buyers are going to ask. Boards already are. Whether you adopt it, adapt it, or explain why your current model is better, here's the…
Mar 10
•
Ryan Peterson
3
2
How Health Plans Are Scoring AI-Enabled Vendors in 2026
Most vendors are positioning around their technology. Plans are scoring six other things.
Mar 3
•
Ryan Peterson
2
2
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please
turn on JavaScript
or unblock scripts
