Corporate Research Group’s Weblog

What else can we say about Aetna’s disappointing third-quarter 2008 earnings release that we didn’t already say about the managed care industry at large in our post on Monday titled Searching for Hope in 3Q08 Managed Care Financials.  Aetna’s earnings fell because of asset writedowns associated with investment losses, medical cost ratio rose, and the company disappointed analysts with lower-than-expected 2009 earnings projections.  The company said its “core business performance remains solid,” and we’re hoping that’s not analogous to John McCain’s statement that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”  Aetna’s shares fell 8% today and are down 57% from their 52-week high.  The truth is that Aetna is probably all right, but like the rest of the industry, a lot will hinge on whether premium yields keep pace with cost trends next year.  Of course, that’s not exactly news to anyone.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Managed Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.