Kaiser Permanente Hawaii earned a $3.7 million profit in the second quarter, reversing a $4.3 million year-earlier loss.
The state’s largest health maintenance organization — it is both an insurer and medical provider — said it gained nearly 6,000 members in the past 12 months with total membership reaching 247,477 at the end of June.
The HMO collected $340 million in premium revenue, up from $307.9 million a year ago, and spent $337.4 million on operating expenses, compared with $312.9 million a year ago.
SECOND-QUARTER NET
$3.7 million
YEAR-EARLIER LOSS
$4.3 million
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That resulted in operating income of $2.6 million, which reversed a $5 million operating loss in the second quarter of 2015. Investment income of $1.1 million — an increase from $700,000 — helped boost the company’s bottom line to $3.7 million, or 1.1 percent of revenue.
“It’s a solid quarter, and we’re on target for the year,” said Kaiser spokesman Laura Lott, declining to say what the targets are for 2016. “It’s too early to predict any future (rate) increases or filings.” The health plan most recently proposed raising rates by 25.9 percent for nearly 14,000 policyholders under the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Kaiser, which operates 23 medical facilities statewide, including the Moanalua Medical Center on Oahu, is preparing to take over three state-run Maui County hospitals before year’s end.
Gov. David Ige and the union representing more than 500 blue-collar state workers at Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital & Clinic, and Lanai Community Hospital reached an agreement last week over benefits for workers who will be displaced by the privatization.
The United Public Workers sued the governor last year to stop the privatization, arguing that it would hurt workers who have contracts in place that run through June 30, 2017.
In June 2015 Ige signed into law Act 103, which allows the three financially troubled public hospitals to be transferred to Kaiser, which is investing significant resources in the facilities and hopes to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.
Kaiser, which has already invested $40 million in the deal, wouldn’t say how the transfer of the Maui County hospitals will affect its future finances, but said it has created a separate entity, Maui Health System, whose financials won’t be reflected in the health plan earnings.