The Los Angeles Times ran this article today about the “holes in health 
insurance coverage” and is that where some of the profits lie? Also noted in the growth was the DOD contract award. Did this lawsuit have anything to do with the award mentioned in the article as well as hiring the former US Assistant Attorney General from Minnesota as general counsel? One does have to ask when you see flurries of legal activities.
Update: UnitedHealthcare Sues Department of Defense Over Tri-Care Contracts–They Said They Would Do This – Is This A Case Of My Algorithms Are Better Than Yours?
In addition the company either directly or through subsidiaries is buying up more physician’s practices, HMOs and IPAs so that would seem to leverage greater control on reimbursement to the the doctors.
United Healthcare Buys Two HMOs in Florida–More Cheap or Free Hearing Aids for Seniors Perhaps–Subsidiary Watch
Meanwhile the AMA put an article out that the United lawsuit checks are in the mail. Nobody is getting tons of money as they never really do on a class action suit.
”Neither United nor any of the health plans that used its Ingenix databases admitted to any wrongdoing, but they did reach a settlement in the federal lawsuit in 2009, agreeing to pay physicians and patients $350 million.
United and other insurers also reached an agreement with the New York State Attorney General's Office, which had investigated the use of UCR to set payment rates and concluded that the system cheated patients and their physicians. The insurers agreed to change the way they set out-of-network payment rates and pay to establish a new database”
In the Health IT business they have about 3 different medical records programs offered through subsidiaries and have enough analytics to cure what ever ails a doctor, hospital or corporation. Contract lowered, they have the algorithms to help one function with less.
Subsidiary Watch-Corporate Conglomerate Insurers Reduce Compensation Contracts Using One Subsidiary Then Market Same MDs With Another Subsidiary in Health IT
Here’s a couple other subsidiaries that add to their bottom line, although I believe some of the I3 folks are no longer a part but they still have ChinaGate as a subsidiary in China and maybe this is part of the cheap hearing aides they offer through yet one more subsidiary they set up to distribute them. More information about the hearing aids at the links above.
United Healthcare (Optum) Owns A Consulting Firm for FDA Drug and Device Approvals, Clinical Trials–CanReg - Subsidiary Watch
UnitedHealth subsidiary (Ingenix Subsidiary I3) Acquires ChinaGate – Working to Sell Chinese Products Globally
Other insurers are due to come out with their numbers soon, but nobody has the huge daily chain of subsidiaries to compile revenue as does United and they don’t have a bank as United does with over $1 billion on deposit. BD
First-quarter net income rose 3.1 percent to $1.39 billion, or $1.31 a share, UnitedHealth said in its statement. The results beat the $1.17-a-share average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue climbed to $27.3 billion from $25.4 billion a year earlier.
UnitedHealth spent 81 percent of premiums collected on medical care, down from 81.4 percent a year earlier.
Hemsley has been bulking up with acquisitions of smaller health plans as President Barack Obama’s health-care law puts pressure on profit margins. UnitedHealth completed its $2 billion purchase of XL Health Corp. in February, gaining membership in plans administered for Medicare, the U.S. backed program for the elderly. Last month, the Pentagon announced it had chosen the company for a $20.5 billion, five-year contract to provide benefits to military personnel and their families.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-19/unitedhealth-profit-rises-as-medical-costs-lag-behind-recovery.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment