In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts.
"The pricing we put in place for 2009 turned out to not really be what we needed to achieve the results and margins that we had historically been delivering," said chairman and CEO Ron Williams. "We view 2010 as a repositioning year, a year that does not fully reflect the earnings potential of our business. Our pricing actions should have a noticeable effect beginning in the first quarter of 2010, with additional financial impact realized during the remaining three quarters of the year."
The stricking thing about this is that they are very open about the fact that these people are being dropped. And it's not like AETNA didn't turn a profit, they just want MORE of one.
Greatest healthcare industry in the world. Right?
1 comment:
You really don't want me to start ranting about insurance companies. An inner ear infection being considered a pre-existing condition and pap smears (which were covered according to the plan) wasn't covered because it wasn't a service that was "needed". Yeah, the ONLY thing my health insurance ever covered was my pregnancy. And that is only because there is a LAW requiring them to cover pregnancy. grrrr...I could go on forever.....
-Tracy
Post a Comment