Kaiser Permanente’s operating margin slips to 2.1% in Q1 

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Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente recorded an operating income of $711 million (2.1% operating margin) in the first quarter of 2026, down from an operating income of $932 million (2.9% margin) during the same period last year, according to its May 8 financial report.  

Eight things to know:

1. Kaiser Permanente reported operating revenue of $34.6 billion for the three months ended March 31, up from $31.8 billion during the same period last year. 

2. Total operating expenses were $33.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up from $30.9 billion during the same period last year. 

3. Kaiser incurred additional one-time expenses in the first quarter due to work stoppages, according to the report. 

4. In February, Kaiser finalized a joint venture with Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health to operate a health plan and new outpatient care delivery system in northern Nevada. Under the agreement, Hometown Health, the health plan previously owned by Renown, is now jointly owned by the two health systems. The joint venture marks Kaiser’s entry into Nevada. 

5. Health plan membership across Kaiser and its Washington, D.C.-based Risant Health subsidiary was nearly 13.5 million as of March 31. 

6. Capital spending was $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up from $1 billion during the same period last year. Spending included investments in facilities and technology. 

7. “To offset the ongoing cost pressures in care delivery, we are accelerating efficiencies across business functions as part of our continued affordability focus,” Kaiser Permanente Executive Vice President and CFO Kathy Lancaster said in the report. 

8. Kaiser reported a net income of $2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, unchanged from the first quarter of 2025.

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