Insurers look for opportunities for expansion

Big players such as Aetna and Cigna are snapping up smaller companies in an effort to keep earnings figures up.

The Wall Street Journal: A Merger Wave Hitting Health Care
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Big managed health care companies are starting to take that idea to heart. These insurers, which try to coordinate patients' medical providers to keep a lid on costs, are facing the double whammy of market saturation and margin-squeezing health care reform. As a result, giants like Aetna, Cigna and Humana have started snapping up smaller players to keep earnings growth alive (Blumenthal, 10/30).

Bloomberg: Cigna CEO Says Small Takeovers In Seniors Market Possible
Cigna Corp. (CI), the U.S. health insurer that agreed to buy Medicare managed-care provider Healthspring Inc. (HS) this week, is open to smaller takeovers to gain business in the seniors market, said Chief Executive Officer David Cordani. The majority of the insurer's growth in the senior market will come from the Healthspring acquisition and not from other purchases, Cordani said in a telephone interview. ... Cigna, the fifth-largest U.S. health insurer, has identified targets in the seniors, retail and global markets to evaluate for possible acquisitions, Cordani said. The insurer is looking for opportunities to expand in the market serving the low-income elderly, where Medicaid and Medicare benefits overlap, through Franklin, Tennessee-based Healthspring or small acquisitions, he said (Weschler, 10/28).

Health News Florida: How Much Are You Worth To HMOs?
Medicare health plan members are worth more than any other category of enrollee in a merger or acquisition deal, Wall Street analysts say. That may explain why beneficiaries' mailboxes are clogged with ads. In fact, they're worth four times as much as members of employer-based plans and five times as much as members of Medicaid plans (Gentry, 10/28).