KAISER PERMANENTE: Suffers Setback with $20M Loss
Kaiser Permanente Friday posted a "money-losing" second quarter, blaming its Northeast and North Carolina divisions for the loss, the Sacramento Bee reports. The HMO posted "an operating loss of $20 million on revenues of $4.2 billion" for the quarter ending June 30, versus $25 million losses on $3.8 billion for the same quarter a year ago. The downturn comes after "Kaiser posted positive results in the first quarter of this year" for the first time in almost two years. Executive Vice President and CFO Dale Crandall said, "We must continue to improve our cost-management performance in the second half of the year to keep our recovery on track." Noting that plans in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and North Carolina lost money, he said that "Kaiser will pull out of those areas by the end of the year." Kaiser "posted strong earnings in California," which comprises two-thirds of its membership (Young, 7/31). Kaiser plans to focus "on cost controls and overall management improvements" to bring nationwide performance back in line with goals, the Wall Street Journal reports (Rundle, 8/2).
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