Kaiser Permanente logged a 2.9% operating margin and 16.1% year-over-year jump in first-quarter operating revenues on the back of recent health system acquisitions through its Risant Health subsidiary, the Oakland, California-based integrated health system announced Friday.
“Year-over-year overall performance reflected a continued focus on affordability for members and customers and the addition of Risant Health revenues,” the system said.
The top-line results shared ahead of Kaiser’s required filings outline more than $31. 8 billion of operating revenues and $30.9 billion of operating expenses, both well above the $27.4 billion and $26.5 billion of the first quarter of 2024.
These translated to an operating income of $932 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, a slight decline from the prior year’s $935 million and 3.4% operating margin.
Kaiser noted that its operating margins tend to be highest during the first quarter thanks to the timing of the open enrollment cycle and then followed by steady revenue but rising expenses. In 2024, for instance, the first quarter’s 3.4% operating margin eventually gave way to a full-year margin of 0.3%.
Through Risant, Kaiser acquired Pennsylvania’s Geisinger Health on March 31, 2024, and North Carolina’s Cone Health on Dec. 1. The additions helped Kaiser boost its full-year operating revenues to a record high of $115 billion across 2024, almost 15% higher than 2023’s.
The Geisinger acquisition somewhat skews the year-over-year comparison of first-quarter net income—$2 billion in 2025 compared to almost $7.4 billion in 2024, through removing that one-time recorded nonoperating revenue lowers it to $2.7 billion.
The main difference between the years’ net incomes came from investment market conditions, the system said, with Kaiser notching $1 billion in other income and expense (excluding acquisitions like Geisinger) in 2025 versus $1.8 billion in 2024.
Kaiser also noted an uptick in capital spending from last year’s $808 million to more than $1 billion. Membership across the organization inched higher to more than 13.1 million as of the quarter’s end.
“Our first-quarter financial results reflect our sharp focus on delivering access to high-quality care and continually becoming more effective in our operations,” Kathy Lancaster, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a release. “We are investing in our facilities, services and capabilities to meet the evolving needs of our members and patients.”
Kaiser Permanente is already the country’s largest nonprofit health system by revenue but is targeting greater growth through Risant.
The subsidiary was unveiled in early 2023 alongside a $5 billion funding commitment and is on the hunt for more member systems that operate separately from the core care network but share a tech-backed value-based care platform. Officials say they’re looking for Risant to acquire about half a dozen regional health systems over the next few years, with collective total revenues landing between $30 billion and $35 billion.