Spring is in the air, which means that it’s time for Q1 reports. As Insider Intelligence’s eMarketer article details, UnitedHealthcare shows soaring numbers, both in membership, which grew by more than 1 million, and in profits, up more than 40% annually to $4.9 billion. Its revenue grew to $70.2 billion—yes, that’s billion—due largely to the earnings of its health services arm, Optum. (Meanwhile, we feel compelled to reiterate that the 2021 financial prognosis for hospitals is: critical condition.)
The article highlights a couple of unsavory bits of business. First, that in Q1, United continued to benefit during the pandemic. This math checks out: As an insurer, you’re simply not going to be paying out as much as usual when millions of people press pause on their healthcare and hospitals put elective procedures on hold.
The second spot of unpleasantness is the fact that United’s big, bigger, biggest business is coming under the trustbusting crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice, due to its planned $13 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare. Critics, such as the American Hospital Association, claim that this deal will give United a competition-crushing advantage. Like the AHA, we worry that the wealth of data Change possesses includes (among many other confidential metrics) details that would allow United to piece together the business practices and strategies of its competitors.
All in all, we’re seeing more of the same in 2021 from United. Massive profits. Massive acquisitions. Massive concerns from the peanut gallery. We’ll continue watching these stories as they develop.
