UnitedHealth Group
Summary
- UnitedHealth Group is a health care and well-being company.
- It offers health care products and insurance services through two distinct platforms, namely UnitedHealthcare and Optum.
- UnitedHealthcare provides health care benefits globally, serving individuals and employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
- Optum’s health services businesses serve the global health care marketplace, including payers, care providers, employers, governments, life sciences companies and consumers.
- UnitedHealth Group Invests $10 Million in New Fund, Invest Appalachia, to Address Social Needs and Advance Economic Equity
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a health care and well-being company. It offers health care products and insurance services through two distinct platforms, namely UnitedHealthcare and Optum.
Recent Developments
UnitedHealth Group Invests $10 Million in New Fund, Invest Appalachia, to Address Social Needs and Advance Economic Equity.1
January 26, 2023; UnitedHealth Group has committed $10 million as a lead investor in the first round of the Invest Appalachia (IA) Fund, a regional initiative launched to accelerate funding in community development across Appalachian counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The IA Fund specifically targets community health, including affordable housing, clean energy, community revitalization and food and agriculture. UnitedHealth Group’s investment will focus on creating affordable housing with wraparound services like health and social needs screenings, expanding access to health care in rural communities and strengthening efforts to reduce food insecurity in Appalachian communities.
Financial Highlights
UnitedHealth Group’s 2022 revenues grew $36.6 billion or 13% year-over-year to $324.2 billion with double digit growth at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare.2
Full year 2022 earnings from operations were $28.4 billion, an increase of 19%, with strong contributions from Optum and UnitedHealthcare. Earnings per share grew 17% compared to last year.
The medical care ratio at 82.0% for full year 2022 and 82.8% for the fourth quarter was consistent with the company’s recent Investor Conference outlook. Days claims payable were 49.9 in the fourth quarter compared to 46.8 a year ago and 50.8 in third quarter 2022. Favorable medical reserve development was $620 million in the quarter.
The full year 2022 operating cost ratio of 14.7% compared to 14.8% in 2021, with ongoing productivity gains offset by business mix and continued investments in growth initiatives.
Cash flows from operations for the full year were $26.2 billion or 1.3-times net income. During 2022, the company returned approximately $13 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Return on equity of 27.2% in 2022 reflected the company’s strong overall growth and efficient capital structure.
UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare full year revenues of $249.7 billion grew $26.8 billion or 12% year-over-year, reflecting growth in the number of people served.
Full year operating earnings were $14.4 billion compared to $12.0 billion last year, reflecting growth in people served and continued strong medical and operating cost management.
People served domestically by UnitedHealthcare grew by over 1.2 million in 2022, led by the company’s community-based and senior offerings. The number of consumers served with domestic commercial benefit offerings grew by 275,000 over the past nine months.
Optum
Optum full year revenues of $182.8 billion grew $27.2 billion or 17% year-over-year, led by Optum Health, and full year operating earnings increased to $14.1 billion compared to $12.0 billion last year.
Optum Health revenue per consumer served increased by 29% in 2022, driven by growth in patients served under value-based arrangements; expansion of care delivery services, including in-home, clinic-based, ambulatory surgery, behavioral and digital; and overall increasing acuity levels of the care that can be offered.
Optum Insight’s revenue backlog increased by $7.6 billion in 2022 to $30 billion, driven by the addition of Change Healthcare and growth in comprehensive managed services. In order to speed improved system performance and experiences for patients and care providers, Optum Insight is advancing its investment initiatives.
Optum Rx revenue growth of 9% in 2022 reflects continued expansion of its pharmacy care services, adding clinical value to medications, including specialty and community-based pharmacies. Adjusted scripts grew to 1.44 billion compared to 1.37 billion last year.
Company Overview
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a health care and well-being company. The company's two distinct business platforms Optum and UnitedHealthcare are working to build a modern, high-performing health system for individuals and organizations.
Brands
UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare provides health care coverage and benefits services to individuals and groups.
Optum
Optum provides health services such as data analytics, technology, pharmacy care and health care delivery.
Business Segments
UnitedHealth Group has four reportable segments: Optum Health; Optum Insight; Optum Rx; and UnitedHealthcare.
Optum Health
Optum Health provides comprehensive and patient-centered care, addressing the physical, mental, social, and financial wellbeing of 102 million consumers and serves more than 100 health payer partners. The company engage people in the most appropriate care settings, including clinical sites, in-home and virtual. Optum Health delivers primary, multi-specialty, behavioral, surgical and urgent care; helps patients and providers navigate and address complex, chronic and behavioral health needs; offers post-acute care planning services; and serves consumers and care providers through advanced, on-demand digital health technologies, such as telehealth and remote patient monitoring, and innovative health care financial services. Optum Health works directly with consumers, care delivery systems, providers, employers, payers, and public-sector entities to provide high quality, accessible and equitable care with improved health outcomes and reduced total cost of care.
Optum Insight
Optum Insight connects the health care system with services, analytics and platforms that make clinical, administrative and financial processes simpler and more efficient for all participants in the health care system. Hospital systems, physicians, health plans, public entities, life sciences companies and other organizations comprising the health care industry depend on Optum Insight to help them improve performance and reduce costs through administrative efficiency and payment simplification, advance care quality through evidence-based standards built directly into clinical workflows, meet compliance mandates and modernize their core operating systems to meet the changing needs of the health system.
Optum Rx
Optum Rx provides a full spectrum of pharmacy care services through its network of more than 67,000 retail pharmacies, through home delivery, specialty and community health pharmacies, the provision of in-home and community-based infusion services and through rare disease and gene therapy support services. It also offers direct-to-consumer solutions.
Optum Rx manages a broad range of prescription drug spend, including widely available retail drugs as well as limited and ultra-limited distribution drugs in oncology, HIV, pain management and ophthalmology. Optum Rx serves the growing pharmacy needs of people with behavioral health and substance use disorders. In 2022, Optum Rx managed $124 billion in pharmaceutical spending, including $52 billion in specialty pharmaceutical spending.
UnitedHealthcare
Through its health benefits offerings, UnitedHealthcare is enabling better health, creating a better health care experience for its customers and helping to control rising health care costs.
In the United States, UnitedHealthcare arranges for discounted access to care through networks which, as of December 31, 2022, include 1.7 million physicians and other health care professionals and 6,400 hospitals and other facilities.