Globe Life Inc.’s GL health insurance business is becoming an increasingly important source of premium growth and diversification following its second-quarter 2026 performance. Health premiums increased 16% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, substantially ahead of the 3% growth in life premiums. The stronger momentum reflects continued expansion across the company’s health-focused businesses, particularly United American and Family Heritage.
United American was a key contributor, with health premiums rising 29% year over year, while Family Heritage posted 9% growth. These businesses provide GL with exposure to supplemental health products, allowing it to benefit from demand for coverage that helps consumers manage healthcare costs.
Rate actions are another important catalyst. GL expects approximately $65 million of additional 2026 premium from approved Medicare Supplement rate increases. These increases can support premium growth and help offset higher medical costs.
GL’s outlook further underscores the increasing importance of health insurance. It expects health premiums to grow 14-16% in 2026 compared with only 2.5-3% growth in life premiums. Total premiums are projected to increase 6.5-7%. As a result, health insurance is expected to grow much faster than the company's overall life business and become a larger contributor to consolidated premium growth.
Another potential advantage is diversification. A stronger health business gives GL another avenue for growth as its mature life insurance operations expand at a slower pace. This could make the company’s premium mix more balanced and reduce its dependence on life insurance for organic growth.
Strong health premium growth, particularly at United American, approved Medicare Supplement rate increases, and GL’s solid outlook provide a meaningful foundation for continued expansion.
What About Its Peers?
Aflac Incorporated’s AFL supplemental health insurance is central to its business model. Aflac’s supplemental health products are designed to help cover expenses that traditional health insurance may not fully cover, including products related to accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital care, dental and vision. In the United States, the company sells through both individual and group/employer channels. The scale of the business is significant. In second-quarter 2026, Aflac reported $3.25 billion of net earned premiums, principally from supplemental health insurance compared with $3.47 billion a year earlier.
Unum Group UNM, through its Colonial Life business, offers voluntary benefits such as cancer, critical illness and accident coverage, which complement traditional health insurance. In the second quarter of 2026, Colonial Life’s adjusted operating income increased 11.9% to $131.4 million, supported partly by favorable claims experience in life, cancer and critical-illness products. UNM’s supplemental and voluntary business also generated $133.3 million of adjusted operating income, up 8.2% year over year. These results highlight the earnings potential of supplemental health products and provide a useful industry comparison for Globe Life as its health business expands faster than its traditional life operations.
GL’s Price Performance
Shares of GL have gained 17.8% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s growth.
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GL’s Overvaluation
The stock is overvalued compared with its industry. Its forward price-to-book value of 2.13X is higher than the industry average of 1.67X. It carries a Value Score of B.
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Estimate Movement for GL
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GL’s 2026 third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) moved up 2.3%, and the fourth-quarter EPS has moved down 1.3% in the past 60 days. The same for full-year 2026 EPS moved up 0.1%, and 2027 EPS has moved down 0.5% in the past 60 days.
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The consensus estimate for GL’s 2026 and 2027 EPS and revenues indicates a year-over-year increase.
GL stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).