Aetna Inc

Consulting your family physician is finally moving into the 21st century and out of the doctor's office. Since the dawn of e-mail, patients have been pleading for more doctors to offer medical advice online. No traffic jams, no long waits, no germ-infested offices with outdated magazines and bad elevator music. There was always one major roadblock: Most health insurers wouldn't pay for it. Until now. In recent weeks, Aetna Inc., the nation's largest insurer, and Cigna Corp.

Aetna Inc., the third-largest U.S. health insurer, will let outside doctors decide whether to cancel coverage for sick customers suspected of obtaining policies through false or incomplete information. The Hartford, Conn., company will give three-member physician panels the final say on rescinding individual and family policies starting today.

Health insurers Aetna Inc. and Health Net Inc. on Thursday reported increased fourth-quarter profits as they added customers and held down medical costs. Los Angeles-based Health Net, which provides health insurance to 2.4 million people, mostly in California, said fourth-quarter net income rose 11% to $84.8 million, or 72 cents a share, up from $76.7 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 9% to $3.21 billion as the company targeted small and mid-size employers.

New York Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo warned health insurers Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. on Thursday that planned programs that rank physicians on quality and cost would be likely to confuse or deceive consumers. In letters to the insurers, Cuomo took issue with the design of Aetna Aexcel and Cigna Care Network programs that would encourage members to use specialists whom the insurers have identified as delivering quality care while containing costs.

Health insurer Aetna Inc. agreed to make changes to its doctor-ranking system nationwide after a probe by the New York state attorney general into whether such programs steered patients toward low-cost physicians at the expense of quality. Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo's office said Tuesday that Aetna was the second U.S. insurer to adopt Cuomo's model for physician-ranking programs and the first to apply it nationally. Last month, Cigna Corp. reached a similar deal with Cuomo.

Aetna Inc. said Thursday that fourth-quarter profit rose 41% as the third-largest U.S. health insurance provider added customers and held down costs. Net income rose to $423 million, or $1.42 a share, from $300.7 million, or 98 cents, a year earlier, the Hartford, Conn.-based company said. Revenue climbed 14% to $5.9 billion.

Worried that medical costs will increase steeply after months of modest growth, investors sent shares of health insurers tumbling Thursday -- led by giant Aetna Inc., which plummeted 20%. Some analysts, however, said health insurers continued to be profitable and that Thursday's loss of investor confidence, which compounded weeks of declines in share prices, should not spur companies to make drastic changes or hike premiums to increase profit margins. The Hartford, Conn.

Aetna Inc. said Thursday that it would buy discounted copies of the cholesterol drug Zocor from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. rather than accept an offer from Merck & Co. to sell its branded pill for less than the generic. Aetna patients will pay more out-of-pocket for Merck's Zocor than Teva's generic, Aetna said. Eric Elliott, Aetna's pharmacy manager, said the Hartford, Conn.

Aetna Inc., one of the biggest U.S. health insurers, said Thursday that second-quarter net income fell on higher medical costs and slashed its membership forecast, sending its shares sharply lower. The results stunned the market for the second quarter in a row and again dragged down the sector. "It wasn't a full-fledged disaster, but it was pretty close," CIBC analyst Carl McDonald said in a research note titled "Deja Vu."

Health insurer Aetna Inc. said third-quarter profit rose 28%, driven in part by aggressive campaigns that added more than 700,000 customers in the last year. Net income for the Hartford, Conn.-based company rose to $476.4 million, or 85 cents a share, from $372.8 million, or 62 cents, during the same period last year.