News Briefs: UnitedHealth’s 4Q Earnings Beat Street Estimate
UnitedHealth Group kicked off the managed care sector’s latest round of financial results on Jan. 13 by reporting fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $5.34 and $22.19, respectively. The company’s adjusted EPS for the prior quarter beat the Wall Street consensus estimate of $5.17, and its medical loss ratio of 82.8% was just a hair higher (worse) than the consensus projection of 82.7%. The firm also reported that its full-year revenues of $324.2 billion grew 13% compared to 2021, “with double-digit growth at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare.”
Nearly 15.9 million people have signed up for Affordable Care Act exchange coverage since the start of open enrollment on Nov. 1, CMS reported on Jan. 11. “This record-breaking enrollment represents a 13% increase over last year, including over 3 million people new to the Marketplaces,” the agency said in a press release. As in prior enrollment snapshots, the 15.9 million enrollment figure includes signup data from both the federal and state-based marketplaces. In the 33 states using the HealthCare.gov platform, there were 11.9 million plan selections through Jan. 7, 2023, while the 18 state-based exchanges reported 4 million plan selections through Dec. 31, 2022. Americans in most states have until Jan. 15 to sign up for marketplace coverage for 2023, unless they qualify for a special enrollment period.