US health insurers fall after UnitedHealth posts higher-than-expected medical costs

Humana AB

12/01/2024 14:54

(Updates)
    ** Shares of U.S. health insurers fall between ~1.5% and ~3%
after industry bellwether UnitedHealth posts
higher-than-expected medical costs
    ** UnitedHealth  UNH.N  shares down 2.9%; co posts Q4
medical cost ratio of 85%, which was higher than analysts'
average estimate of 83.88% - LSEG data
    ** Shares of CVS health  CVS.N  down 3.10%, Humana  HUM.N 
down 3.12%, Cigna  CI.N  down marginally
     ** Centene  CNC.N  shares down 2.15%, Elevance health
 ELV.N  fell 1.61%
    ** UNH again cited elevated outpatient care utilization,
primarily in Medicare, continuing the trend observed since Q2 23
- Brokerage Stephens
    ** In 2023, UNH shares were marginally down, CVS fell ~16%,
HUM fell ~11%, CI fell ~10%, CNC fell 9.5% and ELV fell ~8%

 (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru)
 ((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))