Analysts Shrug at UnitedHealth’s 2Q, Predict Greener Pastures in 2025

  • Jul 19, 2024

    Although multiple Wall Street analysts deemed UnitedHealth Group’s second-quarter financial results “messy,” they also suggested that the company’s near-term stumbling blocks are largely eclipsed by the prospects of a more favorable 2025. 

    The “messy” moniker — used by Bernstein Research’s Lance Wilkes, Raymond James’ John Ransom and Wells Fargo’s Stephen Baxter — largely refers to UnitedHealth’s adjusted medical loss ratio (MLR) of 84.5% in the quarter. During UnitedHealth’s July 16 earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer John Rex said that figure included an impact of 40 basis points, or $290 million, related to the suspension of some care management activities after the Change Healthcare cyberattack that hit the claims-processing subsidiary earlier this year.  

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  • 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.

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