CONSOLIDATED HIGHLIGHTS
Earnings Per Share: GAAP net income was $8.30 per share in the first quarter, including net negative adjustment items of $1.16 per share. Adjusted net income was $9.46* per share.
* | Please refer to the GAAP reconciliation tables on page 12. |
Membership: Medical membership totaled approximately 48.1 million as of March 31, 2023, an increase of 1.3 million, or 2.9 percent year-over-year, driven primarily by growth in Medicaid, commercial fee-based, Medicare Advantage and ACA health plan members, partially offset by attrition in our employer group risk-based business.
During the first quarter of 2023, medical membership increased by 593 thousand driven by organic growth in Medicaid and commercial fee-based members.
Operating Revenue: Operating revenue was $41.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of $4.0 billion, or 10.6 percent year-over-year. The increase was primarily driven by higher premium revenue due to membership growth in Medicaid and Medicare Advantage, as well as premium rate increases in our Health Benefits business. The increase in operating revenue was further attributable to growth in pharmacy product revenue within CarelonRx driven by growth in members served and script volume.
Benefit Expense Ratio: The benefit expense ratio was 85.8 percent in the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 30 basis points year-over-year. The decrease was driven by our commercial risk-based health plans.
Medical claims reserves established at December 31, 2022 developed in line with the Company’s expectations as of the first quarter of 2023.
Days in Claims Payable: Days in Claims Payable was 46.0 days as of March 31, 2023, a decrease of 1.5 days from December 31, 2022 and a decrease of 0.9 days compared to March 31, 2022.
Operating Expense Ratio: The operating expense ratio was 11.5 percent in the first quarter of 2023, unchanged from 11.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022.
Operating Cash Flow: Operating cash flow was approximately $6.5 billion, including the early receipt of April’s premium payments from CMS. Excluding that item, operating cash flow would have been $3.5 billion, or 1.7 times net income in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of $963 million as compared to the prior year quarter. The year-over-year increase was driven by favorable working capital changes and growth in net income.
Share Repurchase Program: During the first quarter of 2023, the Company repurchased 1.3 million shares of its common stock for $622 million, at a weighted average price of $476.66. As of March 31, 2023, the Company had approximately $6.3 billion of Board-approved share repurchase authorization remaining.
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