Cigna Corp

Cigna Corp. said fourth-quarter profit fell 60% from a year earlier when the fourth-largest U.S. provider of health insurance almost doubled its earnings on cost cuts and the sale of a unit. Net income for Cigna, which has lost almost 4 million members since 2002, fell to $224 million, or $1.78 a share, from $558 million, or $4.16, the Philadelphia-based company said. Revenue fell 3% to $4.21 billion. Enrollment in Cigna health plans last quarter fell 6% from a year earlier to 9.

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 No traffic jams, no long waits, no germ-infested offices with outdated magazines and bad elevator music.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.

The family of a 17-year-old leukemia patient has sued health insurance giant Cigna Corp. for her death last year after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant. The lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court by the family's attorney, Mark Geragos, alleges breach of contract, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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.

Cigna Corp. agreed to improve its rankings of physicians in response to an investigation of health insurers suspected of using the list to direct patients to cheaper doctors instead of better ones, New York's attorney general said. Cigna, a Philadelphia-based insurer, will report to the attorney general every six months and will use an outside monitor to oversee compliance, Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo said.

A Friday funeral was set for the Northridge teenager who died last week after her insurer refused to pay for a liver transplant and then reconsidered. Meanwhile, the girl's health plan stood by its initial decision Monday.

Cigna Corp. on Wednesday reported a 15% increase in third-quarter profit, buoyed by a strong showing in its health insurance business as membership rolls increased and the company better managed its medical costs. In the quarter, net income rose to $298 million, or $2.75 a share, from $259 million, or $2, during the same period last year. Earnings excluding investment gains and other nonoperating items increased to $268 million, or $2.48 a share, in the latest quarter from $251 million, or $1.

Hundreds of actors, artists, musicians and writers in California are facing massive increases in their health insurance premiums -- a situation that could face other consumers who don't have employer-sponsored health plans, advocates and lawmakers said. Cigna Corp., which has sold insurance to members of the entertainment industry through their professional associations for 25 years, is raising premiums for actors and others by an average of 82%, with some hikes as high as 254%.

The American Medical Assn. is joining several state medical associations in suing health insurers Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. over a database they say was rigged to underpay doctors on out-of-network claims for more than a decade. But Cigna said doctors' rates were part of the problem. The lawsuits heap more criticism on Ingenix Inc. data that already have cost UnitedHealth Group Inc. of Minnetonka, Minn., $350 million to settle a separate lawsuit involving the AMA.