Big health plans mark a profitable year

Quick View. March 8, 2004.

Large, publicly traded health plans had strong profit growth and revenue increases last year. Eight out of nine plans posted revenue gains over 2002, with a mean percentage increase of 11.5%. All nine plans posted increases in profits, with a mean percentage increase of 86.8%. The only plan with diminished revenue was Aetna, which continued to try to, in its words, "grow profitably" by reducing its customer base in some markets.

* Aetna posted a net loss of $2.5 billion in 2002 but attributed it to "noncash impairment of goodwill" relating to a change in accounting standards.