UnitedHealth net falls 1.1% on more medical costs: Report

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings fell 1.1% amid higher medical costs, although increased membership helped to improve revenue
UnitedHealth, the biggest managed-care company by revenue, is the industry's first to report quarterly results, making its view of health-cost trends and patient traffic an important barometer
Health insurers were able to retain a greater portion of premiums during the economic downturn because many consumers avoided hospitals and doctors' offices to save money
But former health-care usage patterns are expected to return as the economy strengthens
In the latest period, UnitedHealth's consolidated medical-care ratio, which reflects the portion of insurance premiums used for patient care, increased to 80.5% from 79.7% a year earlier
UnitedHealth reported a profit of $1.24 billion compared with $1.26 billion a year earlier
Revenue jumped 11% to $28.77 billion
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of $1.19 a share on revenue of $28.24 billion
Operating margin shrank to 7.3% from 8%
The company's UnitedHealthcare insurance business saw its revenue increase 11% to $26.9 billion
Revenue from Optum, its information- and technology-based health-services business, declined 1.3% to $7.5 billion
The company served 83.7 million people as of Dec. 31, compared with 77.6 million in the prior quarter and 78.1 million a year earlier
UnitedHealth agreed in October to acquire 90% of Amil Participacoes S/A for about $4.3 billion in cash
Amil is Brazil's biggest managed-care company, and UnitedHealth purchased roughly 65% of Amil's stock during the fourth quarter
The company, which also backed its 2013 guidance, expects to buy an additional 25% of Amil during the first half