The murder of CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last month sparked outrage and outrage against corporations. insurance industry and the entire medical system. Mr. Thompson ran UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of industry giant UnitedHealth.
Whitty spoke briefly about the slain CEO at the beginning of Thursday's earnings call, praising his work.
“He dedicated his time to the following.” Helping improve the functionality of the medical system For all the people we are privileged to serve,” Witty said.
- During the conference call, UnitedHealth announced that it had revenue of more than $400 billion and net income of nearly $14.5 billion last year.
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Whitty said the health system “needs to reduce disruption, reduce complexity and reduce costs,” which he said include: come down.
“Fundamentally, health care costs are higher in the United States because the price of a single procedure, visit, or prescription is higher than in other countries.The key fact is that price, more than utilization, drives up the cost of the system. “It's about letting people do what they want,” Witty says.
However, he said the main causes of high costs are: pharmaceutical companyreferring specifically to the price of GLP-1. Whitty pointed out that drugs in Europe cost about one-tenth of what they cost in the United States.
UnitedHealth owns the pharmacy benefits manager Optum Rx, which negotiates drug discounts in the form of rebates and passes them on to consumers. Although PBMs are under intense scrutiny from lawmakers and federal regulators, Whitty said they play a “critical role” in keeping costs down, which is what PBMs do. being attacked by pharmaceutical companies.
Optum Rx passes 100 percent Mr Whitty said he would increase the proportion of drug rebates returned to consumers and employers by 2028. “This will make it more transparent about who is actually responsible for setting drug prices in this country: the drug companies themselves,” he said.
He also took a swipe at a thin veil hospitalsaid there are “system participants” who “benefit” from the higher prices.
Patients would benefit from lower-cost facilities that Congress is considering introducing into Medicare, but hospitals are fiercely opposed to it. Whitty said such a move would “threaten the revenue streams of organizations that rely on increased health care costs.”
