They're Everywhere

Those damned commies and their socialized medicine. Bloomberg (11.02.07):

"Cigna Corp., the U.S. health benefits provider that specializes in handling claims for self-insured employers, said third-quarter earnings rose 22 percent as the company added 902,000 plan members in a year."

Cigna's Profit Rises 22 Percent on Growth of Plans

Pretty good quarter all around for big health. "Cigna's largest rivals last month reported higher third-quarter earnings than a year ago. Profit rose 15 percent at UnitedHealth Group Inc. of Minnetonka, Minnesota; 7 percent at WellPoint Inc. of Indianapolis; 14 percent at Coventry Health Care Inc., of Bethesda, Maryland and 4.3 percent at Aetna Inc. of Hartford, Connecticut; Humana Inc., of Louisville, Kentucky, the second-largest Medicare contractor, soared 90 percent."

Where did the revenue come from? Last year, "Medicare payments fueled growth for the insurance industry". This year, "Medicare will funnel $76.3 billion in premiums to Advantage providers", and "about $50 million more to insurers selling Medicare drug plans."

Well jeepers Wally. That ain't too bad.