Saturday, February 13, 2010

Economy Down, Health Insurance Industry posts largest Profits ever

February 12, 2010 6:39 p.m. EST
Topics: business, economy, business and finance, health, United States
Linda Young - AHN(All Headline News - Digital news media) Editor

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - While businesses and individuals struggled to cope with ever-rising health insurance costs, health insurance companies lined their pockets with profits of $12.2 billion in 2009 - an increase of 56 percent from 2008.

Those staggering statistics were revealed in a report by a coalition of liberal advocacy groups and labor unions, Health Care for America Now.

"The five largest U.S. health insurance companies sailed through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression to set new industry profit records in 2009, a feat accomplished by leaving behind 2.7 million Americans who had been in private health plans. For customers who kept their benefits, the insurers raised rates and cost-sharing, and cut the share of premiums spent on medical care. Executives and shareholders of the five biggest for-profit health insurers, UnitedHealthGroup Inc., WellPoint Inc., Aetna Inc., Humana Inc., and Cigna Corp., enjoyed combined profit of $12.2 billion in 2009, up 56 percent from the previous year. It was the best year ever for Big Insurance," Health Care for America Now wrote in a statement on its Website.

Part of the shocking profits were made by dropping the sickest policy holders, Health Care for America Now noted.

In addition, although many people view health care as a necessity, health insurance companies price it like it's a luxury.

Health Care for America on its Website quoted Andrew Kurz, former chief financial officer of Wisconsin Blue Cross-Blue Shield as saying, "Insurance company profit margins put the industry in the top 10% of all industries, up there with cigarette manufacturers. Insurers price their products like a discretionary luxury, not something essential for health and well-being

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