600,000 Forced to Drop Aetna Insurance

Posted in Health Insurance

December 7th, 2009

Health insurer Aetna plans to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their insurance in 2010. According to the company, the decision is a necessary action to raise additional revenue and meet profit expectations.

Aetna Posts Losses

After a third-quarter earnings conference call in late Oct. 2009, Aetna announced that it would need to make some adjustments to improve on their less-than-anticipated profit margin for the year. Apparently, with medical costs in 2009 being much higher than expected, the company did not post the profit it wanted. As a result, the company decided that raising prices on customers would be the appropriate solution.

Customers Expected to Walk Away

With the decision to raise prices on customers, they expect approximately 650,000 clients will drop their coverage, which is what they want. Of the 650,000, the company predicts that 300,000 to 350,000 members will come from the national account. The remaining 300,000 will probably come from smaller group accounts.

What This Means to You

If you are currently an Aetna customer, it’s best to expect prices to increase sometime next year. Whether the price increase will adversely affect you personally has yet to be determined. However, it would not be a bad idea to begin shopping for another insurance company during the next open enrollment period at your job.

If you’re on your own with health insurance, it’s good to begin shopping around for cheaper health coverage options now. The sooner you can get your health coverage straightened out, the less you’ll have to worry about when the company raises its prices.