UnitedHealth Q4 profit falls, says Obamacare is one factor

The nation's largest health insurer saw a 19% drop in fourth-quarter profit in 2015 after lamenting financial hits on Obamacare insurance exchanges — but it still ended the year exceeding analysts' expectations. UnitedHealth posted fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday of $1.22 billion, compared with $1.51 billion in the last three months of the previous year. Total revenue in the fourth quarter hit $43.6 billion, up 30% from the previous year's fourth quarter. For the full year, the Minnesota-based company said revenue grew to more than $157 billion, up 20% compared with 2014. Driving growth was the company's Optum segment, which handles pharmacy benefit management, technology, clinics and other services. Optum's 2015 revenue grew 42%, while UnitedHealthcare's grew 10%.