Driving the news: The company reported Tuesday that its medical care ratio soared by 4.3 percentage points to 89.4% in the second quarter as costs "significantly exceeded pricing trends," stemming in part from "the intensity of services delivered, and the ongoing effects of Medicare funding reductions." Zoom in: UnitedHealth reestablished its earnings outlook after suspending it in May, announcing the sudden exit of CEO Andrew Witty and appointing former CEO Stephen Hemsley to return to the post. The impact: UNH shares were down 4.4% Tuesday at 11am ET, and are now down more than 46% on the year. Threat level: Tim Noel, CEO of the company's UnitedHealthcare insurance division, said on a conference call that customers can expect "strongly responsive pricing for 2026" as "we are intensifying our remediation actions." The bottom line: As costs balloon, so too will premiums.