Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
UnitedHealth Reports 29% Increase In Earnings Last Quarter, Share Values Soar
UnitedHealth Group Inc. reported a 29% increase in quarterly earnings and raised its full-year guidance as the health insurer benefits from growth in its health-services business and a lower impact from medical costs. Shares of UnitedHealth, up 50% over the past year, rose 3.7% to $121.60 Thursday. The stock fell 2.2% Wednesday after hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc. reported a better-than-expected outlook for the March quarter, raising concerns about higher health-care costs for insurers. (Chen and Wilde Mathews, 4/16)
UnitedHealth hiked its 2015 forecast after soaring past Wall Street's first-quarter expectations with a performance fueled in part by growth outside health insurance. ... Health insurance is UnitedHealth's largest business, but the company has been spreading its focus by expanding its Optum segment, which also offers data technology services and runs clinics and doctor's offices. That's good for the parent company because the Optum business generally offers better profitability than the health insurance side, BMO Capital Markets analyst Jennifer Lynch said. (Murphy, 4/16)
UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, said there had been no "underlying acceleration" in medical usage in the first quarter, allaying investor fears of a rise in costs. (Penumudi and Banerjee, 4/16)
