In 2018, the health insurance market in North America accounted for more than 33 percent of revenue and is expected to grow through 2026. Image: Shutterstock)

The health insurance market is pretty risky these days. There are the political and legal issues stemming from growth in the popularity of Medicare for All and the eventual fate of the Affordable Care Act, not to mention the usual mergers and acquisitions. Still, membership growth is expected, stemming from increased spending on health care.

According to the latest quarterly report from Moody's, health insurer earnings are still on an upward trend, thanks to membership growth and “efforts to contain medical costs [and] disciplined pricing.”

That upward trend is expected to continue, according to a report from Acumen Research and Consulting, with cancer and other chronic conditions driving spending through additional treatment needs, including surgery. Increasing chronic disease prevalence as well as private insurance plans that provide flexibility in choice of doctors and therapies will also add to the growth of the market, which is expected to hit $1.5 trillion in value by 2026.