More like UnitedWealth... Insurance giant UnitedHealth had its most profitable quarter ever. United took home $6.6B in profit, double the amount it made the same quarter last year. You didn't use the insurance benefits you pay United for monthly — so your canceled April doctor's visit went straight into United's pocket. That was for two reasons:
Your health insurance policy might be complex, but your health insurers' business is simple: maximize premiums, minimize payouts. That's exactly what United did last quarter: The money it paid out for COVID care was way less than the money it saved on all the care you didn't use. One magic metric tells that story...
Medical Loss Ratio ("MLR"): The amount of money United pays out, divided by the amount it receives in premium payments.
70%: United's MLR last quarter, a historic low. United paid just 70 cents in claims for every dollar it received in premiums.
That's significantly less than it was paying a year ago, when MLR was 83%. Less payout = more profits.
This profit doesn’t look good on healthcare... Health insurers profited on customers paying for benefits that they couldn't use (because, pandemic). Also, devastating job losses had millions losing employer-sponsored coverage. Regulators have called for some of the industry's profits to be returned to customers. Some health insurers have offered premium credits and discounts. United says it paid out $1.5B in discounts — but it still took home $6.6B in just 3 months.