Highmark Is Hiring for AI Scale Amid Utilization Pressure

Highmark Health is approaching 2026 under constraints it could not fully price away. Through the first nine months of 2025, the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit reported $24.6 billion in revenue alongside a $69 million net loss and a $204 million operating loss. Pressure was concentrated in the insurance business, where utilization failed to normalize as expected and remained elevated throughout the year.

“For 2025, we thought the trend would subside and come down just a little bit. They remained elevated throughout the year,” Carl Daley, chief financial officer and treasurer at Highmark Health, told Fierce Healthcare. “Pricing in the first half of the year did not fully contemplate the trends that we’re seeing.”

During the same earnings discussion, executives cited technology and artificial intelligence as factors already influencing claims operations. Kate Musler, chief financial officer of Highmark Health Plan, said the insurer was seeing AI improve provider coding accuracy, easing some cost pressure even as utilization remained high.

Recent AI hiring activity at Highmark aligns with that operating context, with roles focused on enterprise systems.