UnitedHealth announced Tuesday it’s seeing a boost in seniors undergoing procedures they may have pushed off during the pandemic.
During the second quarter, there was a “meaningfully higher number” of outpatient cases among seniors on Medicare health plans, the largest publicly traded health insurer said during Goldman Sachs’ annual global health care conference.
In particular, the company saw “continued strong outpatient care activity” related to knee and hip replacements, UnitedHealth Group CFO John Rex said.
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“There are some indications that it looks a little bit like pent-up demand or delayed demand being satisfied,” Rex added.
Tim Noel, CEO of UnitedHealth’s Medicare and retirement business, noted that seniors have gotten more comfortable accessing services for “things that they might have pushed off a bit like knees and hips” now that things have started to normalize.
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“We’re just seeing more services, which, again, are we’re really happy to see that our seniors are accessing the care that they need,” Noel said.
The rise in surgeries though is adding to UnitedHealth’s costs.
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As a result, UnitedHealth’s stock tumbled more than 7% during trading Wednesday afternoon.
Humana, CVS Health, Cigna and Centene stocks also dropped.
