Aetna Health Insurance Laying Off over 1000 Employees – Most in Connecticut

The economy is having it’s toll on everyone.  Aetna has won some and lost some in the corporate bidding battles as employers have been one of their key targets.  Bank of America and Tri-Care have been 2 of their recent awarded contracts.   What else does this mean potentially, more automation and less potential individuals to speak with.  All companies are streamlining their operations to incorporate automation, being made possible with new algorithms and business models. 

The “scoring” of claims of course will continue and that process, if you read the news in the last six months, is on a sky rocket with data improvements and algorithmic automation.  The company is of course still making money, but with lay offs today, that means little as automation will serve to increase current profits.  The healthcare insurance business, outside of Wall Street itself has been one of the heaviest investors in software technology, business intelligence runs the business models and the entire way they do business.  BD 

NDIANAPOLIS - Health insurer Aetna said Wednesday it will cut 625 jobs immediately, or nearly 2 percent of its staff, and will make a similar number of cuts by the end of the 2010 first quarter due to the lagging economy and the potential impact of health care reform.

Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna trimmed 977 jobs last December and currently has about 35,500 people. Several other large insurers, including Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. and Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp., also have announced cuts.

Health insurers have faced growing financial pressure in the past few quarters as corporate job cuts have trimmed the number of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance. Many insurers project enrollment losses will continue into 2010 as the unemployment rate is projected to keep rising.

Aetna, the third largest publicly traded managed care company, saw medical enrollment grow 8 percent in the third quarter to more than 19 million people. But it expects to lose 225,000 people in the fourth quarter and another 650,000 in the first quarter of 2010, spokesman Fred Laberge said.

Aetna cutting more than 1,000 jobs by 1st quarter - News Wires - CNBC.com

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