Firm Appointed to Help NHS Reports Profits of Over USD1 Billion

The American health insurance firm appointed to look after GPs practices and advise primary care trusts (PCTs) in the UK has announced annual profits of $1.1 billion. UnitedHealth operates five GP practices in London and Derbyshire, and recently won a multimillion-pound contract to advice PCTs – the organisations responsible for running GP practices and awarding contracts to self-employed GPs who operate independent practices.

The lucrative contracts have boosted the private medical insurance company’s financial results, with profits up by 30 per cent on the same quarter in 2009. The company did, however, assert that the majority of its growth came in the US where it successfully signed up more members for the government-backed Medicare and Medicaid policies.

The governments thinking behind rewarding UnitedHealth with the contracts is reportedly the hope that the company’s experience of private healthcare will help make the bidding processes more efficient. Having grown to become the largest health insurer by sales in the US, with more than 50,000 employees and 60 million health plan customers who generate annual revenues of more around $80 billion, it is clear that UnitedHealth has considerable experience in the medical industry.