Dive Brief:
- UnitedHealth Group, the largest health insurance company in the U.S., showed a surge in profits during the second quarter as a result of increased membership, lower spending, and growth of Optum, its consulting and technology services business.
- The nearly 13% profit increase of $1.59 billion put the company at $1.64 in earnings per share, eclipsing earlier estimates.
- All of UnitedHealth's lines of business saw increases in revenue, as in the first quarter of this year. The company's Medicare and Medicaid plans showed the most growth on the insurance side.
Dive Insight:
UnitedHealth has raised its outlook for the rest of the year due to its earnings and its upcoming acquisition of pharmacy benefits manager Catamaran Corp, expected to close this month.
The company now projects revenue of $154 billion by the end of the year—an increase of $11 billion.
Though UnitedHealth isn't currently discussing the possibility of any other mergers, such as its rumored talks with Aetna or Cigna, experts suggest additional purchases are unlikely in the near-term following the Catamaran purchase for $12.8 billion in cash.
UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley said that in the future UnitedHealth will "continue to diversify our business" and make moves as necessary, Modern Healthcare reports.
Also in the news: Regulators on Wednesday dunned divisions of United and five other MA providers with "unusual fines" for providing policyholders with incomplete or inaccurate information about costs and benefits, according to Law360.