Stephen Hemsley

UnitedHealth 4Q Profit Up 21% As Membership Grows

(Add details on results, company's 2012 outlook.

)UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s (UNH) fourth-quarter profit rose 21%, helped by growing health-insurance membership, signs of light health-care usage in some areas and fast-rising sales in the company's Optum health-services unit.The Minneapolis-based company, the largest managed-care concern by revenue, capped a strong year helped by a continued trend of muted patient traffic in hospitals and doctors' offices.Still, UnitedHealth held its 2012 guidance in check while maintaining a guarded outlook for the new year. The company anticipates patients will ramp up medical-system use, and it's making big investments related to the U.S. health-care overhaul law and changes in its pharmacy-benefits business, among other pressure points."At this early stage, we continue to take an appropriately cautious posture on 2012 financial performance," Chief Executive Stephen Hemsley said on a conference call with analysts.He also said the company was expecting ...

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