Investment Losses, Rising Unemployment Hurt Kaiser in Q3
On Tuesday, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and their subsidiaries reported a loss of $399 million in the third quarter, largely because of a steep drop in investments, the San Francisco Business Times reports. The business units are the not-for-profit segments of Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente.
For the same period a year earlier, the Kaiser units reported a profit of $654 million.
Looking at the Numbers
Kaiser posted a third-quarter net non-operating loss of $706 million, compared to net non-operating income of $205 million the year before.
Operating income was $307 million in the third quarter of 2008 compared to $449 million in the third quarter of 2007.
Operating revenue for the quarter was $10.2 billion, an 8.5% increase from $9.4 billion a year earlier.
In addition, Kaiser membership dropped to about 8.6 million in the third quarter, something officials attributed to rising unemployment and the overall economic climate. Kaiser membership was about 8.7 million three months ago (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 11/5).
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