Shares of healthcare companies including Humana (NYSE:HUM), CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), and Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) fell sharply on Wednesday after UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) said it expected the resumption of non-urgent surgeries to result in a rise in medical costs.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that the health insurer warned of a spike in medical costs in the second quarter as more older adults undergo procedures they had delayed during the pandemic.
UnitedHealth’s shares fell 7.3% to $455.45 by midday on Wednesday. Shares of Humana Inc toppled 13.5%, Elevance Health declined 7.6%, CVS Health fell 6.3% and MolinaHealthcare shed 5.2%.
At a Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) healthcare conference on Tuesday, UnitedHealth said it saw increased demand from patients in Medicare health plans for those aged 65 and above, particularly related to knees and hips, per the Reuters report.
"We're seeing that more seniors are just more comfortable accessing services for things that they might have pushed off a bit like knees and hips," Tim Noel, CEO of UnitedHealth's Medicare and retirement business, said.
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