UnitedHealth’s profit jumps as medical costs come in lower than expected

UnitedHealth Group has made it clear that more people, especially older adults, are seeing their doctors and getting more medical care this year. But that is certainly not dragging down the company’s profits.

In the third quarter of this year, UnitedHealth’s net profit increased by more than 11%, to more than $5.8 billion, the company reported Friday.

UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance division of the conglomerate, registered a medical loss ratio of 82.3% in the quarter. That means for every $100 in premiums the company collected, it paid out $82.30 to hospitals, doctors, and other providers — and kept the rest as profit and to cover its own expenses. That ratio was lower than the 82.8% that Wall Street had predicted for the quarter.

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