Kaiser net income drops 64 percent

Oh, the dismay and rendering of garments that must be taking place in health plan boardrooms of late! Profits have taken a dramatic turn for the worse within several health plans, including UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Cigna, WellPoint and Health Net, reporting big drops for the first quarter of this year. (Interestingly, they all seem to be attributing losses to different causes, rather than some general malaise affecting the health plan industry as a whole.)

Now, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan continues spreading gloom and doom, announcing that it saw a 64 percent drop in net income during the first quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year. It blamed investment losses for the drop, a plunge from $698 million during the first quarter of last year to $250 million for the first quarter of this one. Kaiser did increase operating income, however, from $521 million during the first quarter of last year to $545 million this year, a boost that includes the addition of 25,000 members this year.

To learn more about Kaiser's results:
- read this East Bay Business Times article

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WellPoint profits fall 25 percent during first quarter
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