Politics

UnitedHealth's Big Announcement: Just What the Doctor Ordered?

By Wendell Potter

Thank you, UnitedHealth Group. Your jaw-dropping profit announcement may be just what the doctor ordered.

ORLANDO--If you are hopeful that the consumer protections in the health care reform law actually wind up benefiting consumers more than the insurance industry, please send a thank-you note to executives at UnitedHealth Group, the largest U.S. health insurer, 

United announced Tuesday morning that it's third-quarter profit jumped 23% -- much more than investors and analysts had expected -- largely because it spent far less of its customers' premiums on medical care than it did this time last year. When an insurance company spends less of every premium dollar it takes in on medical care, it has more left over to reward shareholders and a handful of senior managers who already are among the highest-paid executives on the planet. 

read more

Full post as published by PR Watch on October 19, 2010 (boomark / email).