Kaiser Permanente Earnings Up 27% for First Quarter

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente on Thursday reported that first-quarter net income increased by 27% from $435 million a year earlier to $552 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Revenue for the quarter increased by more than 11% from the same period last year to $7.7 billion.

Capital spending for the quarter was $379 million, an increase of 15% over first quarter last year. Enrollment increased by 96,500 during the first quarter, compared with a decline of 12,700 during the first quarter of 2004.

George C. Halvorson, Kaiser CEO and chair, attributed membership growth in part to new products, such as health savings accounts and credit cards used to pay deductibles (Vrana, Los Angeles Times, 5/6).