Elevance Health, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Elevance Health third quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session where participants are encouraged to present a single question. If you wish to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad. You will hear a prompt that you have been queued. You may withdraw your question at any time by pressing star then two. These instructions will be repeated prior to the question and answer portion of this call. As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to the company's management. Please go ahead.

Good morning and welcome to Elevance Health third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. My name is Nathan Rich, Vice President of Investor Relations. With us today on the earnings call are Gail Boudreaux, President and CEO, Mark Kaye, our CFO, Felicia Norwood, our Chief Health Benefits Officer, and Morgan Kendrick, president of our commercial health benefits business. Gail will highlight our third quarter performance and discuss the progress we're making on our strategic priorities. Mark will then discuss our financial results and the drivers supporting our earnings outlook in greater detail. After our prepared remarks, the team will be available for a question and answer session. During the call, we will reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available on our website, elevancehealth.com. We will also be making forward-looking statements on this call. Listeners are cautioned that these statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Elevance Health. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations and we advise listeners to carefully review the risk factors discussed in today's press release and in our quarterly filings with the SEC. I will now turn the call over to Gail.

Good morning and thank you for joining us. Elevance Health delivered strong third quarter results with Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Individual ACA, each contributing to our better than expected performance. These results reflect focused execution across the enterprise. They support a higher earnings outlook for 2026 and increase our confidence in the sustainability of our performance entering 2027. We are revising our 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to at least $29, reflecting operating outperformance as well as favorable non-operating items. More importantly, we're raising our 2026 earnings baseline to at least $26.75. That increase reflects better underlying results and greater confidence and the durability of that performance. From this higher baseline, we remain confident in our ability to deliver at least 12% adjusted diluted earnings per share growth in 2027. We expect that growth to be driven by continued margin improvement in health benefits, broader adoption of Carillon's value-based solutions and greater operating efficiency across the enterprise. We are bringing together the scale and local presence of our health benefits business with Carillon's clinical and operational expertise to improve outcomes and make care more affordable. As we extend these solutions across our health plans into external clients, we expect to improve medical cost management, increase operating leverage, and deliver greater value for those we serve. We are already seeing measurable results. Carillon's risk-based oncology solution connects treatment planning with personalized support throughout a member's cancer journey. Through earlier identification of risks and more coordinated intervention, our cancer care engagement program has reduced avoidable inpatient admissions by 15% in the commercial market. Our Elevate medical cost management platform is helping our teams identify emerging cost drivers earlier and translate those insights into targeted action. This year, the platform has identified more than $300 million in anticipated savings. We are encouraged by these results and see significant opportunity as we deploy these capabilities more broadly across the enterprise. Now let me turn to our performance by line of business. In Medicaid, third quarter performance was ahead of our outlook, primarily reflecting the benefit of recent rate actions. We are now tracking slightly ahead of our prior full-year margin guidance. We remain focused on the drivers within our control. We are expanding evidence-based clinical oversight in behavioral health, strengthening care management, and advancing targeted network actions while preserving access to appropriate care. Looking to 2027, we expect Medicaid margins to improve as rates become better aligned with cost trends and the actions we are taking continue to gain traction. In Medicare Advantage, we have repositioned our portfolio around the products and markets where we can deliver sustainable value for members. These deliberate actions, together with improved medical cost performance and continued execution, are delivering the results we expected and positioning the business for more sustainable growth over time. We are carrying that same discipline into the 2027 annual election period with an emphasis on HMO plans and serving dual eligible members. Our plan designs prioritize stability in the benefits members value most and reflect a measured view of cost trends This approach supports further margin improvement in 2027 as we advance toward our long-term operating margin target. We recently received our 2027 star ratings and are pleased that approximately half of our Medicare Advantage members will be enrolled in plans rated four stars or higher. We again achieved an enterprise-wide average of four stars in a competitive and dynamic environment. Our STARS performance remains a multi-year priority and we continue to invest in member experience, clinical quality, and care provider engagement to improve on these results. In commercial, we maintain a consistent and disciplined approach to the 2027 selling season. That approach reflects prudent pricing, the value of our integrated medical and pharmacy offering, and our unwavering focus on affordability. We continue to see strong demand for our Anthem balance-funded product and the differentiation created by our patient advocacy programs. These capabilities are increasing member engagement, strengthening clinical support, and supporting disciplined cost management. Turning to CareAlign, we are pleased with its strong performance in the quarter. We're bringing together pharmacy, behavioral health, and home-based care to create more integrated solutions that address a broader set of client needs. Our focus remains on deepening adoption across our health plans, expanding external client relationships, and delivering measurable value. As a result, Carillon is becoming an increasingly important contributor to both affordability and enterprise earnings growth. In summary, execution is strengthening across the enterprise. We are raising our 2026 guidance increasing our earnings baseline and entering 2027 with greater momentum and visibility. We see a clear path to delivering at least 12% adjusted earnings per share growth in 2027, supported by continued margin improvement in health benefits, ongoing expansion of Carillon, and greater operating efficiency across the enterprise. Beyond 2027, We believe the actions we are taking today position us to drive sustainable long-term earnings growth. Before closing, I want to thank our associates. Their commitment, expertise, and execution are central to our progress and to the difference we make for the people we serve. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mark to review our third quarter financial results and outlook in greater detail.