Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
UnitedHealth's Q2 Profits Beat Estimates But Insurer Reports Obamacare Losses
The Wall Street Journal: UnitedHealth’s Profit Jumps on Health-Services Growth
UnitedHealth Group Inc. on Tuesday posted a strong earnings beat as revenue continued to surge in its pharmacy-services business, and the biggest U.S. health insurer lifted the low end of its profit guidance for the year. (Wilde Mathews and Steele, 7/19)
The Associated Press: UnitedHealth’s Profit Surges, Yet Affordable Care Act Drags
UnitedHealth’s second-quarter earnings jumped 11 percent to beat investor expectations even though the nation’s largest health insurer took a bigger hit than expected from coverage linked to the Affordable Care Act. (Murphy, 7/19)
The Hill: UnitedHealth Group Beats Expectations Despite ObamaCare Squeeze
The nation’s largest insurer performed better than expected over the last quarter, with a 28 percent increase in profits compared to the same time last year. UnitedHealth Group, which released its latest earnings report Tuesday, beat expectations on Wall Street even as the company continues to flounder in the ObamaCare marketplace. (Ferris, 7/19)
Star Tribune: ACA Exchanges Getting Even Worse For UnitedHealth
Government-run health insurance exchanges became an even bigger source of financial losses during the second quarter at Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group. The nation's largest health insurer said Tuesday that it saw higher medical costs once again on the exchange marketplaces, and increased projected losses for the year by $200 million. (Snowbeck, 7/19)
The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Raises Guidance, Buoyed by Pharma Growth
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday raised its guidance for the year again as the health-care giant topped expectations in the latest quarter, helped by growth in its pharmaceutical business. (Steele and Rockoff, 7/19)
The Wall Street Journal: Intuitive Surgical Tops Expectations
Intuitive Surgical Inc., a maker of robotic systems that enable minimally-invasive surgery, easily topped second-quarter expectations, thanks to solid demand in the U.S. for its systems. (Beilfuss, 7/19)
