Aetna Shows Interest In Private Exchanges With Purchase Of Tech Company
The Associated Press reports that this segment of the employer-sponsored insurance market is relatively small but growing.
The Wall Street Journal:
Aetna To Buy Insurance Exchange Technology Company
Aetna Inc. said it has reached a deal to buy a privately held provider of technology that helps people shop on health-insurance exchanges, which have grown in prominence under the federal Affordable Care Act. Aetna said the deal for the company, bswift, carries a price tag of about $400 million, and is expected to close before the end of this year. (Calia, 11/3)
The Associated Press:
Aetna Spends $400M On Exchange Technology Provider
Health insurer Aetna will spend $400 million on a technology company that could strengthen its push into a relatively small but growing area of employer-sponsored coverage: private exchanges that let workers choose their own plans. Aetna said Monday it is acquiring privately held Bswift, a Chicago-based company that provides technology for benefits administration and insurance purchases on private exchanges. More employers have been considering private insurance exchanges in recent years as a way to improve control over health care costs that consistently rise faster than inflation and consumer bigger portions of their budgets. Under this approach, businesses generally give their workers a set amount of money to purchase health insurance and then send them to a private exchange, where they pick from a number of plans. (11/3)
In addition, LabCorp makes an acquisition and moves into the drug-development business -
The Wall Street Journal:
LabCorp To Buy Covance For About $6.1 Billion
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, one of the largest U.S. medical testing companies, is entering the drug-development business by agreeing to buy Covance Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $6.1 billion, the companies said on Monday. (Walker, 11/3)
Also, revenues rise for the hospital chain Tenant -
The Wall Street Journal:
Tenet Healthcare Revenue Soars
Tenet Healthcare Corp. said its third-quarter revenue soared and admissions continued to improve with a boost from the U.S. health-care policy overhaul. For the year, the hospital operator raised the lower end of its projection for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by $50 million and now expects to a range of $1.90 billion to $1.95 billion. (Stynes, 11/3)
Bloomberg:
Tenet Tops Estimates As Obamacare Spurs Patient Increase
Tenet Healthcare Corp. reported earnings that beat analysts estimates as the hospital company saw increased revenue from higher admissions and fewer uninsured patients under Obamacare. The hospital chain benefited from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, spending less on charity care for uninsured patients in states that have expanded Medicaid, the joint state-federal health program for the poor. About a quarter of Tenet’s patient beds are in states that have expanded Medicaid. (Pettypiece, 11/3)
Meanwhile, in the news from the drug industry -
The Associated Press:
Stock Market’s Recovery Is Led By Drugmakers
For stocks, it’s just what the doctor ordered. Health care companies are leading the market’s rebound from a sharp sell-off two weeks ago, helping push the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index back to record levels. (11/3)
