Bernstein

• Carriers expected to hit fourth-quarter numbers

  By The Associated Press  |  January 16, 2013

  Major health insurers should detail results that stack up well to expectations when they begin reporting on the fourth quarter, but investors will be focused more on how the new year is shaping up, according to analysts who cover the sector.

• Flu may deliver limited impact to stocks

  By Tom Murphy  |  January 9, 2013

  Flu season may have a more muted impact on some health care stocks than investors expect, even though experts warn that this year's version is shaping up to be more intense than recent seasons.

• Analysts like Humana prospects

  By The Associated Press  |  November 14, 2012

  Humana Inc. is well-positioned to handle challenges posed in the next couple years as the health care overhaul unfolds, according to several analysts who cover the health insurer.

• Health Net shares tumble, insurer slashes forecast

  By Tom Murphy  |  August 3, 2012

  Health Net Inc. shares plunged Friday after the health insurer slashed its 2012 earnings forecast again and reported second-quarter results that fell far below analyst expectations.

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  Black, white and biased all over

  By Denis Storey  |  June 19, 2012

  Last week I had lunch with a room full of Texas brokers in Fort Worth. I had a blast.

• Aetna's first quarter profit tumbles 13 percent

  By Tom Murphy  |  April 26, 2012

  Shares of Aetna Inc. sank 10 percent Thursday after the health insurer reported a first quarter performance that missed Wall Street expectations, and it failed to raise its 2012 earnings forecast.

• Medicaid provider shares tumble

  By Associated Press  |  April 9, 2012

  Shares of insurers Molina Healthcare Inc. and Centene Corp. sank Monday in early trading, one trading day after the state of Ohio picked some competitors to administer its Medicaid program for more than 1.5 million people.

• UnitedHealth forecasts 2012 earnings growth

  November 28, 2011

  Insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. forecast 2012 earnings growth of up to 5 percent compared to its expectations for 2011. Analysts say that outlook is conservative.

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  Expert: Social Security doesn't contribute to deficit

  By Paula Aven Gladych  |  November 2, 2011

  Social Security not only shouldn't be cut as part of the United States’ debt reduction measures, but, according to Merton Bernstein, an expert on Social Security and the Walter D. Coles Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, it wouldn’t take much to ensure Social Security’s viability 75 years...

• Cigna's 2Q profit climbs 39 percent, outlook rises

  By Tom Murphy  |  August 4, 2011

  Cigna Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net income jumped 39 percent compared to last year's quarter, when a hit from a discontinued business weighed on the managed care company's performance.