UnitedHealth Group's Healthy Profits from Daily Kos

by mcjoan

Earlier today, Jed pointed out that the GOP keeps pushing "research" done by the Lewin Group, an organization that is owned by UnitedHealth Group.

To Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, it is "the nonpartisan Lewin Group." To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an "independent research firm." To Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the second-ranking Republican on the pivotal Finance Committee, it is "well known as one of the most nonpartisan groups in the country."

Generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers.

Here's a little bit more about UnitedHealth Group, and just how much skin they have in the game when it comes to healthcare reform, and particularly a strong public option.

INDIANAPOLIS — UnitedHealth Group Inc. reported a second-quarter profit that more than doubled to beat Wall Street expectations, but the health insurer continued to lose commercial enrollment due to the tough economy.

Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth also said Tuesday it raised the low end of its full-year earnings forecast.

UnitedHealth earned $859 million, or 73 cents per share, for the quarter that ended June 30. That's up from $337 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.

Last year's second-quarter results included settlements in two class action lawsuits related to UnitedHealth's former stock option granting practices. They resulted in a pretax charge of $922 million, or 47 cents per share, for the quarter.

Here's a little bit from the WaPo story cited by Jed explaining about one of those lawsuits:

More specifically, the Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary that was accused by the New York attorney general and the American Medical Association, a physician's group, of helping insurers shift medical expenses to consumers by distributing skewed data. Ingenix supplied its parent company and other insurers with data that allegedly understated the "usual and customary" doctor fees that insurers use to determine how much they will reimburse consumers for out-of-network care.

In January, UnitedHealth agreed to a $50 million settlement with the New York attorney general and a $350 million settlement with the AMA, covering conduct going back as far as 1994.

So despite settlements in two lawsuits, and despite a loss in commercial enrollments, and despite the tough economy, UnitedHealth doubled its earnings from last year. I wonder how much of those earnings were plowed in to the Lewin Group and its research.