UnitedHealth Group led
off managed care organizations' second-quarter 2019 earnings reports by
steering clear of political discussions.
There are "a lot of
policies and proposals and proposed regulation activity going on today, and
it's in part mixed with the political campaigns. So…there’s a lot out
there," CEO David Wichmann told Morgan Stanley analyst Ricky Goldwasser
during the company’s July 18 earnings call.
He had been asked to
comment on the likely competitive impacts of President Trump's executive order
requiring the disclosure of negotiated rates between insurers and hospitals and
a bipartisan House proposal to restructure Medicare Part D.
Wichmann replied that he
would restrict his commentary to "general types of themes," saying
it's "fairly clear now" that drug manufacturers set prices and there
is recognition that PBMs bring "strong value" in managing procurements
and pharmacy benefits and, in UnitedHealth's case, applying rebates at point of
sale.
In general, Wichmann
touted UnitedHealth's "strong, well-balanced revenue and earnings
growth" across its businesses, and highlighted the company's technological
advances and its ongoing work on value-based payments to providers.
Based on its first-half
performance, the company increased its full-year net earnings outlook to $13.95
to $14.15 per share, and adjusted net earnings to $14.70 to $14.90 per share.
Overall, Wall Street
analysts seemed bullish on the diversified health-care giant's latest results.
Jefferies analysts described it as a "solid start" to MCO earnings,
though Credit-Suisse analysts noted UnitedHealth's revenues are now expected to
be at or below its outlook.
No comments:
Post a Comment