UNH
#Thank you, <UNK>
Like the Optum team, UnitedHealthcare is pleased to report strong performance across the business this quarter
At UnitedHealthcare, we continue to focus on a few critical priorities
The first is quality, which includes both clinical quality and the experience consumers and care providers have with us
We are gratified to see our NPS core is advancing with consumers and clients across our product lines and with providers
Next is our relentless focus on managing costs
As customers expect us to be good stewards of their financial resources, one example, 2017 is tracking to be the ninth consecutive year UnitedHealthcare’s customers will experience fewer, inpatient hospital admissions per 1,000 people
Third is our partnership with Optum
We are further leveraging capabilities to improve performance and innovate for our customers and care providers, nowhere does our clinical engagement performed better than where it combines with the clinical delivery capabilities of OptumCare’s local market ambulatory care practices
Consumers regularly give OptumCare practices NPS scores in the 70 to 90 range and for 2018, 100% of OptumCare Medicare Advantage patients will be in plans rated four stars or higher
Together, we are able to better serve the clinical needs of UnitedHealthcare patients with the higher quality, lower cost and improved customer experience
In turn, we strengthened Optum’s practices through market leading growth, innovation and clinical insights all aimed at better serving people one at a time everyday
The fourth priority is what we refer to internally is distinction
It is how we describe the truly compelling experience we are creating for people across a variety of dimensions
This includes creating distinctive relationships with care delivery system partners and driving simplicity for consumers
On Rally, our consumer digital platform we added additional private health insurance plan selection capabilities this past quarter to help pick the best benefit plan for their needs taking into account their age, family status, health background and economics
Doing these things well leads to the final priority, I will discuss today, growth, where our innovative commercial benefits have grown with remarkable consistency and we have considerable long-term opportunities for substantial growth in the public and senior sectors
Nationally, there are about 85 million people representing 1 trillion in annual spending who do not benefit from managed care offerings
The majority of these people are served by unmanaged higher cost fee-for-service programs operated by federal and state authorities
These people will benefit from the insights and the progressive tools that effectively support coordinated patient treatment across all access points in the healthcare system
Seniors and Medicaid beneficiaries served through our more progressive care models see higher quality care, lower costs and improve value
We expect the growth for years to come as the market continues its steady shift from costly outdated programs to innovative approaches like those offered by UnitedHealthcare
In Medicare, our revenues of $16.3 billion grew more than 17% over last year
Over the past year, we added nearly 1 million people, 100,000 of them in just the last 3 months split evenly between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement
We expect more Medicare growth in 2018 based on both the growing MA market and our unique value proposition, which offer stable products, a simple and personal experience and a distinctive culture
In 2018, our quality Star scores advance again
Approximately 85% of the seniors we serve will be enrolled in plans rated four stars or higher
The initial stars data for 2019 payment year once again show strong organic improvement, because our underlying plans are performing consistently at higher levels
We expect our final star ratings in 2019 payment year to approximate or exceed the high performing levels of 2018 supporting benefit value and better health outcomes for the seniors we serve and growth for our business in this important market
In community and state, third quarter revenues grew 12.8% over last year
Third quarter membership levels remain stable representing a year-over-year advance of nearly 600,000 people with the continuing favorable mix shift toward more complex health conditions and higher acuity programs, which is our strength
During the quarter, we went live with programs in Virginia and in October, the First Californians joined UnitedHealthcare under new Medi-Cal contracts in two counties
In addition, we are excited by our active pipeline of renewal and new business opportunities as states expand and diversify the populations they serve through managed Medicaid
Turning to UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual, our commercial group full risk offering sustained momentum in a consistently competitive environment growing to serve 40,000 more people this quarter more than 0.5 million in the past 12 months and 1.1 million over the past 3 years
These results reflect improved experiences for consumers and predictable cost trend management for employers driven by a combination of innovative benefit designs and locally payer networks, all of which lead to rising retention and strong new business generation
We recently decided to enter the Northern Plain’s health insurance markets, including Minnesota beginning in the second half of 2018. Our team in Minnesota is looking forward to serving our neighbors more fully in coming years
Taken as a whole, UnitedHealthcare grew revenues this quarter by $3.6 billion to $40.7 billion nearly 10% growth and earnings from operations of $2.4 billion in the quarter grew over 13% year-over-year
Now, I will turn the call over to <UNK> <UNK> for a financial review
I assume that question is about 2018.
<UNK>, you said 2018.
Making sure, okay
A lot of work to do between now and ‘19 benefit plan because we are about two days into the selling season for Medicare Advantage and yes, tremendous growth
We have been really focused at UnitedHealthcare across all the businesses to really advance the idea that I mentioned earlier in my comments around distinction and with very key focus on some fundamental areas, substantial growth, advances in quality leveraging our Optum capabilities, managing our costs both administrative and clinical and nowhere has that, I think, shine through more brightly than our Medicare Advantage
So, I think it’s great to have <UNK> <UNK>, our CEO of Medicare shed some light on 2017 and kind of outlook for ‘18 as you kind of see things shaping up
Sure
Hi, Chris
So, as I mentioned in my earlier comments really excited about the performance across all of our businesses
We are really well-positioned and we see a lot of opportunity
So, maybe I will just ask Dan <UNK> to comment broadly on, I think particularly of note is the strong performance we have had in fully insured and then maybe Austin Pittman could just share a little perspective on the Medicaid – managed Medicaid opportunity continues to be a strong growth opportunity for us
