Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, the state's largest health maintenance organization, reported it swung to a profit from a year-earlier loss in the third quarter.

Kaiser said it recorded net income of $100,000 for the three months ending Sept. 30. A year earlier it had a net loss of $400,000.

"Our integrated health care model is proving that we can better manage costs while at the same time improving the care and services we provide our customers and patients," said Susan Murray, Kaiser vice president, in a statement.

The HMO's Medicaid plan was recently cited by U.S. News & World Report as the top one of its kind in the 2009-2010 rankings, while its Medicare plan was in the top 15 nationwide.

Kaiser reported its operating revenue rose slightly during the quarter compared with a year earlier, helped in part by a rate increase and a rise in the number of members. It had 224,000 members at the end of September, or about 1,000 more than a year earlier.

Kaiser said it has created more plans to keep its health care affordable to people hit hard by the current economy or laid off from jobs.

The HMO's operating expenses also increased, but investment income helped offset an operating loss and produced the bottom-line profit.

"Our minor operational adjustments during this challenging economic period for Hawai'i and the nation have helped us remain stable for our members and customers," said Thomas Risse, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii chief financial officer.