Just when we finished celebrating the good fortune of Goldman Sachs, now we have to break out the party hats and balloons for UnitedHealth, the country's largest health insurer.
UnitedHealth reported super-duper profits this week. Here are a few quotes from the Wall St. Journal the AP and the Washington Post. The comments in red are mine.
UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s second-quarter earnings more than doubled amid prior-year charges and an increase in revenue, though enrollment continued to decline as U.S. unemployment mounts. (Wall St. Journal)
Hmm ... so they have figured out how to lose customers and still make huge profits! I wonder how they do it?
Revenue rose to $21.66 billion from $20.27 billion on increased premiums, which grew partly due to price increases. (Washington Post)
Oh! They just raised prices. That's so clever.
Commercial enrollment, which includes employer-sponsored coverage, has already fallen by 1.3 million people this year. But the company's public and senior business, which includes Medicaid and Medicare coverage, grew 15 percent year over year to 7.1 million people in the second quarter. (Washington Post)
Plus they make big profits through Medicaid and Medicare, which of course are funded by our tax dollars. Great plan, guys.
The Minnetonka, Minn.-based company said its profit more than doubled compared to the same quarter last year, when hefty legal charges weighed down earnings. (AP)
What's that? Legal charges? Are those from that pesky lawsuit where UnitedHealth was accused of setting up their OWN company to determine what "usual and customary" charges should be, and then using those numbers to shift costs to their customers instead of PAYING CLAIMS like they are supposed to do?? That lawsuit?
Have we had enough of these insurance companies yet????? Is there ANY question that they need to be reined in?
UnitedHealth recently was one of three health insurers awarded multibillion contracts by the Defense Department. (Wall St. Journal)
sigh.
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You're right, that's pretty sick. Of course, I'm more interested in knowing where all this money is suddenly coming from. The country's in a deep recession and states are broke, yet top companies are suddenly posting record profits and the government can somehow find the funds for bailouts and economic stimulus packages. Something's rotten, and it ain't in Denmark.
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