Apr 17, 2018

UnitedHealth Group's massive first quarter

UnitedHealthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group, heavily grew its insurance membership in Q1. Photo: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

UnitedHealth Group's profit in the first quarter of 2018 soared 31% year over year, totaling $2.84 billion. Revenue jumped 13% in the quarter, to $55.2 billion.

The big picture: UnitedHealth, arguably the most dominant conglomerate in the health care industry, raked in more money across all of its different businesses and benefited from the lower corporate tax rate. Private Medicare Advantage growth fueled its health insurance division, while its pharmacy benefit manager, doctor practices and data technology boosted its services division, called Optum.

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Barak Ravid, author of from Tel Aviv
1 hour ago - World

U.S.-Israeli delegation secretly visits Sudan

Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A joint U.S.-Israeli delegation traveled secretly on Wednesday to Sudan for talks on a possible announcement on "ending the state of belligerence" between the countries that could be released in the next few days, sources briefed on the trip told me.

The big picture: President Trump announced earlier this week he is ready to remove Sudan from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list once Sudan pays $335 million in compensation to American terror victims.

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

A white-collar crime crackdown

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

America has waited a decade for an aggressive government crackdown on white-collar crime. Now, just before the election, and in the middle of a bull market, it has arrived.

Why it matters: When times are good, investors become more trusting and more greedy. That makes them more likely to put their money into fraudulent or criminal enterprises.

  • After a decade-long bull market, there is no shortage of those frauds to prosecute.
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Ashley Gold
2 hours ago - Technology

Lawyers crystal-ball the Google antitrust case

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

The Justice Department's antitrust suit against Google is a strong, straightforward monopoly case, competition lawyers and experts tell Axios. But that doesn't mean it'll be an easy journey for the government.

The big picture: Winning any antitrust case is a heavy lift. It's even more of a challenge to pull off victory in a future-looking case that seeks to make room for potential new competition to flourish.

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