WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pressed health insurance CEOs on premium hikes, prior authorization rules and claim denials in back-to-back House committee hearings Thursday, zeroing in on how the insurers’ decisions are affecting patients right now.
The CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health Group, Cigna Health Group, Elevance Health and Ascendiun spent the morning testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and in the afternoon headed to a hearing before the Ways and Means Committee.
The hearings, called by Republicans, come as health insurance premiums have skyrocketed for millions of Americans. For those who get insurance through the Affordable Care Act, the lapse in enhanced subsidies at the end of 2025 led to premiums doubling or tripling in some cases. Those on job-based insurance also saw increases, which insurers have attributed to the rising cost of prescription drugs and hospital care.
“Millions of Americans across the nation have seen their health care premiums skyrocket,” Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said. “Yet, all of you are posting record profits.”
“It’s crushing over families, it’s a drag on our economy and it’s a threat to my children’s future,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas.
The CEOs pushed back on the criticisms, saying rising premiums reflect higher costs elsewhere in the health care system. The insurance industry, they argued, competes on pricing and it would be a disincentive for them to raise premiums above what people can afford.
“We work everyday to lower the cost of health care,” said David Cordani, the CEO of Cigna.
At the first hearing, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and John Joyce, R-Penn., honed in on how insurance giants have acquired pharmacy benefits managers (PBM), the middlemen involved in what drugs are covered by insurance.
CVS Health owns insurer provider Aetna and CVS Caremark, its PBM. UnitedHealth Group owns UnitedHealthcare, its insurance arm, and Optum, its PBM, which also employs doctors. Cigna, another insurer, owns Express Scripts, a PBM.
In an exchange with David Joyner, the CEO of CVS Health, Ocasio-Cortez said that CVS, through Caremark, manages around 30% of all prescriptions filled in the U.S.
“Mr. Joyner, that is quite a bit of market concentration,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“I wouldn’t agree,” Joyner said. “It’s a model that works really well for the consumer.”
“I think it works very well for CVS,” Ocasio-Cortez quipped.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., asked why CVS reportedly spent $41 million in compensation to Joyner in 2024. “How do you justify getting paid that much?” Carter asked.
Other lawmakers pointed to constituents who were denied coverage.
Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wa., spoke of a constituent who, she said, was denied by UnitedHealth Group for hospitalization following a stroke.
“That is just unconscionable and shameful,” Schrier told Stephen Hemsley, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, at the same hearing. “This is why so many people hate their insurance company.”
The House hearings were the first in what’s expected to be a series looking at the “root causes” of high health care costs.
And while criticism of insurance companies was bipartisan, Republicans and Democrats also blamed one another for the crisis, with the GOP faulting Obamacare and Democrats accusing Republicans of using the hearings to deflect from their own inaction to address rising premiums.
“Obamacare prices have only gone up, not down,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said during his opening remarks. “Democrats know it’s their fault.”
Democrats have fought to extend the subsidies for three years, but the bill didn’t to pass through the Republican-controlled Congress.
“Make no mistake,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., the Energy and Commerce Committee’s ranking member, “congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump are to blame for the healthcare affordability crisis Americans are experiencing today.”
Last week, Trump announced his long-awaited health care plan. The plan, a hodgepodge of ideas the president has already floated, drew criticism for being light on specifics.
