Nov 5 (Reuters) - Humana reported third-quarter

profit that beat Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, helped by

higher premiums and medical costs which were in line with the

health insurer's expectations.

The company is one of the largest providers of Medicare

Advantage plans, under which the U.S. government pays private

insurers a set rate to manage healthcare for people 65 and

older, as well as those with disabilities.

The health insurance industry has been battling

stubbornly high costs for the last two years due to the

increased use of healthcare services across government-backed

plans.

Humana has been making efforts to contain costs by

repricing its plans and adjusting benefits to help boost

profits.

It now expects a decline of about 425,000 members in its

individual Medicare Advantage plans, an improvement from the

loss of up to 500,000 members expected previously. This was

driven by stronger member retention and better-than-expected

sales.

"We view membership growth as positive supported by our

2026 MA pricing and the plan and benefit repositioning we drove

in the prior two years," the company said in prepared remarks

ahead of a call with analysts.

Humana expects most of its new members to be on

higher-rated plans for 2026.

Its quarterly medical cost ratio - the percentage of

premiums spent on medical care - came in at 91.1%. Humana said

the medical cost ratio was in line with its expectations of

"just above 91%". Analysts had expected a ratio of 90.90%,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

It also reaffirmed its annual adjusted profit forecast

of about $17 per share.

The company posted adjusted quarterly profit of $3.24 per

share, surpassing estimates of $2.82 per share.