Care Deferral Dings OptumRx 2Q Earnings, Big RFP Wins

Although the steep decline in health care utilization tied to COVID-19 lockdowns proved to be an overall boon for UnitedHealth Group during the second quarter of 2020, that was not the case for the company’s PBM subsidiary.

OptumRx’s earnings declined 6% year over year in the second quarter as prescription volume dropped due to “lower care activity,” UnitedHealth Chief Financial Officer John Rex said during a July 15 earnings call. “Unsurprisingly, given the sharp drop in primary care and specialist visits, first fills of prescriptions declined by about one-third early in the second quarter,” he said, but added that first fills “began to recover as the quarter progressed and have continued to do so as care activity increases.”

© 2024 MMIT
Leslie Small

Leslie Small

Leslie has been working in journalism since 2009 and reporting on the health care industry since 2014. She has covered the many ups and downs of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the failed health insurer mega-mergers, and hundreds of other storylines spanning subjects such as Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage, employer-sponsored insurance, and prescription drug coverage. As the managing editor of Health Plan Weekly and Radar on Drug Benefits, she writes and edits for both publications while overseeing a small team of reporters who also focus on the managed care sector. Before joining AIS Health, she was a senior editor for the e-newsletter Fierce Health Payer, and she started her career as a copy editor at multiple local newspapers. She graduated with a dual degree in journalism and political science from Penn State University.

Related Posts

iv-therapy
September 12

FDA’s Marks Issues ‘Provocative’ Call for Target Gene Therapy Profile That Includes Costs

READ MORE
September 12

News Briefs: CVS Challenges Lawmaker’s Claim of False Testimony

READ MORE
September 12

AMA Report Details PBM Market Concentration; PCMA Fires Back

READ MORE

GAIN THERAPEUTIC AREA-SPECIFIC INTEL TO DRIVE ACCESS FOR YOUR BRAND

Sign up for publications to get unmatched business intelligence delivered to your inbox.

subscribe today