Aetna Dropping 600,000+ Customers to Raise Profits

From mcjoan here.

Public option, anyone?

Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations....

"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."

Aetna's decision to downsize the number of clients in favor of higher premiums is, as one industry analyst told American Medical News, a "pretty candid" admission. It also reflects the major concerns offered by health care reform proponents and supporters of a public option for insurance coverage, who insist that the private health insurance industry is too consumed with the bottom line. A government-run plan would operate solely off its members' premiums.

Aetna came to this decision despite the fact that it actually did make a profit in 2009, just not high enough profits to satisfy shareholders. Their timing on this is exquisite. Could there really be a better demonstration of why we need a new model of insurance coverage? One not based on profits?

From Jim Moss here.

Very impressive, Aetna! Not once in that quote did your CEO make reference to sick people, or people who might die from lack of coverage, or people who will go bankrupt trying to afford higher premiums. In fact, Mr. Williams didn’t let the concept of people and their pesky needs interfere at all with his important considerations of "business," "pricing," "results," "margins," "earnings potential," or "financial impact." No danger here of health insurance becoming something more than profit-seeking.

So thank you again, Aetna, for wanting us to know; for making it crystal clear at this crucial point in the debate that for-profit care doesn’t care at all. It’s long past time for a health system that is based on helping people and not just on the bottom line.