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15 JULY (Reuters) – On Thursday, UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) reported robust growth in its Optum unit, which manages pharmacy benefits, beating quarterly profit projections and raising its full-year earnings target. For the second time this year, the industry leader boosted its full-year profit prediction, now expecting adjusted earnings of $18.30 to $18.80 per share in 2021, up from $18.10 to $18.60 before. For the quarter ended June 30, the business recorded an 82.8 percent medical loss ratio (the percentage of premiums received spent on medical services), up from 70.2 percent a year before, when patients put off non-urgent care because to the COVID-19 epidemic. According to the most recent official data, about half of all Americans have been properly vaccinated, and daily new COVID-19 cases dropped in May and June, encouraging individuals to return to doctors’ offices for routine, non-elective medical care. UnitedHealth’s Optum unit, which handles medication benefits and provides healthcare data analytics services, had a 17.2 percent increase in revenue to $38.3 billion from the previous year. According to IBES data from Refinitiv, UnitedHealth posted adjusted earnings of $4.70 per share, exceeding predictions of $4.43 per share. For at least the last eight quarters, the company has outperformed Wall Street’s earnings per share projections. Manojna Maddipatla contributed reporting from Bengaluru, while Anshuman Daga and Shinjini Ganguli edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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