UnitedHealth ups expectations for the year after strong Q3

UnitedHealth trumped third-quarter expectations and hiked its 2022 forecast again as one of the largest U.S. health insurance providers moved deeper into delivering care.

The health care giant said Friday that it booked 17% revenue growth from its Optum segment, which runs doctors offices and clinics as well as one of the country’s biggest pharmacy benefit management operations.

The company said it continued to expand clinic-based, surgical and home care as it grew value-based payment arrangements. Those involve basing doctor or care provider pay more on how a patient does instead of delivering a fee for each service.

UnitedHealth's insurance segment covers more than 51 million people, mostly in the United States, and it still brings in most of the company's revenue. But company leaders have been focusing more on growing care delivery too, in part to manage the insurance expense by improving customer health.