By Alex Wittenberg – Staff writer,
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Jun 3, 2019, 2:37pm CDT Updated Jun 3, 2019, 4:37pm EDT
Top
executives from UnitedHealth Group Inc. at a conference
last week spoke about how the insurer plans to grow a division of Optum into a
$100 billion business.
At the
Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, UnitedHealth Chief Financial
Officer John Rex said OptumCare, a unit of
Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) that provides health care services to
patients and runs clinics, has served between 93 million and 94 million
consumers since starting about a decade ago.
OptumCare
is separate from UnitedHealth's insurance business; instead it's part of Optum
Health, the fast-growing UnitedHealth technology and services subsidiary. Optum passed $100 billion in
revenue for the first time last year; Rex now envisions OptumCare,
which brought in $16 billion in 2018, hitting $100 billion all by itself by
2028.
OptumCare
can reach that target, Rex said, in part by expanding to serve more elderly
patients, especially those with Medicare Advantage plans. The service currently
is in network with 80 insurers and
has a presence in 35 markets.
"The
revenue per consumer served right now ... is roughly $19 or so per month,"
Rex said. "A typical senior Medicare Advantage member at a full-risk
offering would be something in the range of $900 to $1,000 a month in terms of
revenue potential."
Business
development will also come through growing the geographic reach OptumCare has
developed by buying primary-care offices, urgent-care practices and surgery
centers, Rex said. The business operates MedExpress, a chain of urgent-care
clinics, and surgical centers under the Surgical Care Affiliates
Inc. brand.
OptumCare
also stands to benefit from UnitedHealth's acquisition of DaVita Inc.'s medical
group, a deal on which the company spent more than $4 billion and is still working to close.
The purchase includes nearly 300 clinics, half a dozen outpatient surgical
centers and 2,200 medical staff across six states.
UnitedHealth
CEO David Wichmann, speaking after Rex, said two
areas OptumCare does not plan to expand into are in-patient care and post-acute
care, when patients are recovering from surgery. In other words, OptumCare
won't be building any hospitals, although it does plan to align with some
health systems that provide those services, Wichmann said.
Ranked
by Revenue, trailing four quarters
|
Rank
|
Name
|
Revenue, Trailing
Four Quarters
|
|
1
|
UnitedHealth
Group Inc.
|
$229.48
billion
|
|
2
|
Target
Corp.
|
$75.35
billion
|
|
3
|
Best
Buy Co. Inc.
|
$42.88
billion
|
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