UnitedHealth Reports Profit, Citing Falling Demand for Elective Care

Executives did not rule out the possibility that there could be much higher demand for medical care later in the year, although they were careful to avoid predicting when a potential rebound might occur. “We haven’t seen a cessation in activity like this,” said John Rex, the company’s chief financial officer.

During the call with investors, Mr. Rex took pains to emphasize that the company’s experience with previous events like hurricanes or the Great Recession might not be helpful. “This situation is so different from anything we’ve seen before,” he said.

The high levels of unemployment that have already been recorded in claims may also affect employer plans, resulting in lower enrollment. But executives said they also expected that people without job-based coverage would seek alternative sources of insurance, benefiting the company’s Medicaid and coverage for individual businesses.

The company says many of its customers are already seeking to delay payments on the premiums they owe.

The company, which also offers short-term plans that do not meet the standards set under the Affordable Care Act, indicated that it had already been considering offering Obamacare plans in additional markets. UnitedHealth was among the major insurers that pulled out of A.C.A. markets because of heavy losses.

UnitedHealth also announced that the chief executive of its Optum unit, Andrew Witty, who was also the former chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, was taking a leave of absence to help lead the World Health Organization’s new initiative for the development of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/health/unitedhealth-profit-coronavirus.html