Health insurer WellPoint has reported an 8.6 percent decrease in second-quarter net income, from $800.1 million in the 2013 to $731.1 million this year.
For the three months ended June 30, WellPoint reported total revenues of approximately $18.47 billion, up 4.4 percent from $17.69 billion in the second quarter of 2013. Total expenses also increased by 4.4 percent to $17.21 billion.
The insurer's SG&A expense ratio was 15.8 percent in the second quarter of this year, up from 13.9 percent in the second quarter of 2013. New fees related to healthcare reform and spending related to healthcare reform-driven market changes contributed to the increase. The same factors, along with higher administrative costs from membership growth, resulted in WellPoint's SG&A expense ratio increasing to 16.2 percent in the first quarter of this year, up from 13.4 percent in 2013. First-quarter 2014 net income at WellPoint dropped nearly 21 percent.
For the six months ended June 30, WellPoint's net income fell 15 percent year-over-year to $1.43 billion. Total revenues for the first six months of 2014 rose 3 percent, from $35.27 billion during the first half of 2013 to $36.33 billion this year. However, total expenses went up by 3.5 percent year-over-year to approximately $33.94 billion.