Enrollment gains boost UnitedHealth in fourth quarter

UnitedHealth Group beat fourth-quarter forecasts by adding Medicare Advantage and Medicaid enrollment and delivering more care through its surging Optum Health business. Those gains helped operating earnings, which exclude investment gains or losses, surge 38% to nearly $3 billion for UnitedHealthcare. Overall, UnitedHealth booked adjusted earnings of $5.34 per share in the fourth quarter. That compares to gains in the broader indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, of which UnitedHealth is a component. _____Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research.