Kaiser Reports $61-Million 2nd-Quarter Loss

Kaiser Permanente Group reported a second-quarter operating loss of $61 million as the largest U.S. health maintenance organization struggled to cut costs after a $270-million loss last year. Much of the loss was caused by a need to direct patients away from its network in California and pay for them to be treated elsewhere. Nonprofit Kaiser medical centers in California, its largest market, couldn’t handle demand from new customers. Oakland-based Kaiser last year chalked up large losses because it failed to accurately estimate how much health-care costs would rise when setting rates for customers. Kaiser reported second-quarter revenue of $4.2 billion. It said it had investment and other gains totaling $63 million, which offset its operating losses and brought net income for the quarter to $2 million. It’s the first time Kaiser has disclosed second-quarter results.