Report: Top five insurers made $12 billion in profits last year, dropped 2.7 million people [View All]

[kpete]

Source: politico

Report: Top five insurers made $12 billion in profits last year, dropped 2.7 million people

With health reform floundering, Democrats have renewed their attacks on the insurance industry and a new report out today hopes to bolster their case that insurance company practices need to be reigned in. The report finds that the top five largest for-profit insurance companies increased their profits by $12.2 billion last year while dropping coverage for 2.7 million Americans.

As a group, WellPoint, Aetna, UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Cigna saw their profits jump 56 percent in 2009 up $4.4 billion over the previous year, according to the report. Four out of five companies saw profits increase while insuring fewer people. Cigna increased earnings by 346 percent while UnitedHealth shed 1.7 million beneficiaries. Aetna, which increased its membership and percentage of premiums spent on medical care, was the only company to see less income in 2009 than 2008.

"Increasing your profits, dropping people is a specific corporate strategy," said Richard Kirsch of Health Care for America Now, the progressive coalition that prepared the report. "What the big health insurance companies do to please Wall Street denies affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, millions more Americans every year."

The report comes as the Obama administration and House Democratic leadership have seized on Anthem Blue Cross' decision to raise rates by up to 39 percent in California. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote a letter to Anthem this week asking them to justify their rate hike and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman announced that his committee will hold a hearing on increases this month.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0210/Report_Top_five_insurers_made_12_billion_in_profits_last_year_dropped_27_million_people.html?showall