Business
UnitedHealth profits up
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 1, 2004
UnitedHealth Group announced a rise in profit of 47% for the third quarter of 2004 compared with the like period a year earlier. United reported net profit of $698 million, or $1.04 per share, up from $476 million, or 77 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2003. Minnetonka, Minn.-based United reported third-quarter revenue of about $9.9 billion, up from about $7.3 billion for the third quarter of 2003. The company credited cost-cutting and new customers for the rise in profits and revenue.
Included in the totals were figures from Oxford Health Plans counted after July 29, when United closed a $4.7 billion deal to acquire the Trumbull, Conn.-based insurer. That purchase was challenged in court by the Medical Society of New Jersey, which argued that New Jersey insurance officials neglected to seriously consider the effects of the takeover on competition and patient care. The lawsuit is pending.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/11/01/bibf1101.htm.












